Cyber Crisis
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to The Rama Conflict. It's been but a lil while since Rama got dismantled by their leader's will and now a new Cyber Crisis has begun: a foreign nation is using some gigantic UFOs to abduct Navis en masse. The Net Saviors will need to fight them back but, at the same time, foil the plotting of the "Neo Gospel" gang: they will be deadly this time around. Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: Ongoing crisis

**Cyber Crisis**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Ongoing crisis**

13:37 PM (Japan Time), Sunday July the 23rd, 2009…

"… Aup, aup! Pau, pau!"

"Oho! Rush! Been a while, man! Where'd you been at?"

"Aup!"

"I think he's saying he was in Izu."

"Searching for a girlfriend? Explosive Russia – chan? Mwah, hah, hah."

"Sigma. Don't say nonsense."

"Au~pp…"

"See? You offended Rush!"

"Too bad, Bloody Shadowy~!"

"Quit it."

"Start it!"

"JEEZ!"

Hikari Netto and Saito (sixteen years old) had been playing with a Wii console in their house's living room when Rush, the dog-shaped Virus, popped out of the ground and into the ground: they stopped to greet him as their two Navis (inside of their respective PETS: blue for Netto and green for Saito) began to chat: Netto's Navi began to joke and Saito's Navi began to scold him.

"Oh come on. Sigma. Don't mess it up, man." Netto sighed.

"We were having a good time!" Saito complained.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Explosive Sigma's Appearance~!"

Sigma turned on the holographic project to show that he was a Net Navi about two meters tall.

He was colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area and it seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which he was currently aiming at the floor in lazy manner.

"Aup! Uap! Pau!"

"Wha~t? That I'm a bully~?"

"Jeez. You had it coming, Sigma!"

"Sure, Blood Shadow…" Saito sighed.

Blood Shadow showed up next.

He used red as his main body color.

He sported black shades and a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

Overall, he seemed to be about Netto's and Saito's age.

"Sigma. If ya don't behave…"

"Santa will bring me coal?"

"Commander Omega will yell at you."

"Yikes!"

"See?" Netto sighed.

"We were having a good _Great Melee Smash Brothers X_ match and you had to get in the way." Saito fumed.

"Aup! Pau! Aupppp!"

"What? Oho. Hinoken claims he's descended from Red-Beard!" Saito translated and laughed.

"Hinoken? Guess he got another attack of impatience and tries to praise himself while he boils his brains to try to defeat Freeze Man… Which he can't 'cause the guy isn't material to begin with…"

"Pau~! Aup! Rappp!"

"Count Elec tries to emulate The Beatles."

"No surprise."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Beatles Emulation Count!"

"Jeez."

"Rap! Zap! Aup!"

"Madoi is trying some weird perfume which smells like petrol, even."

"I guess she got scammed there." Blood Shadow sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. He's the best insider ever!" Sigma laughed.

"I'll admit that he told us that plot by the Maha Ichiban's guys to retrieve that Chip Wily had left behind with his wisdom and all… And in the end it fell into the ocean… I was there, ya know?" Netto recalled.

"Hum. You were somewhat correct this time around." Blood Shadow muttered.

"And that was… Warning! Drum roll! Ta-ta-ta-DAN! November 2004! It's July 2009! So! 4 years 9 months! Time flies by, Hikari – sama~!"

"Sure, sure." Netto rolled his eyes.

"Jeez." Saito complained.

"Daup! Pan!"

"And Maha is into _feng shui_ again."

"Shug Feni!" Sigma made up a parody.

"Jeez."

"Mau~p!"

"And the Navis are totally exasperated by Shadow Man's puns."

"No wonder, either." Blood Shadow sighed.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… I'm being praised, adventurers!"

Shadow Man came out of Sigma's large shadow while making his pose with the fingers glued and chuckling: everyone sighed out of exasperation while Sigma grinned.

"Yo! Shadow Man! How many did you fish out?"

"Hmpf… I found 7 sinners lurking in the outskirts of Internet City and trying to blow up the Silver Tower… You know: the one with so many antennas and all… Paid by "them"… And by "them"…"

"Yeah. The "Neo Gospel" survivors… The "Dark Side"…" Netto grumbled.

"They never stay quiet! Is it that hard to find them in Melbourne?"

"Well. In a metropolis with over 4 million souls… And the guy could be using a disguise too…" Shadow Man sighed.

"Heck. I forgot Melbourne was that big of a city…"

"Speaking of cities…" Blood Shadow brought up.

"Yeah… Brasilia Internet City got stormed by the UFOs…"

"Who finances those? The Dark Side?"

"No. Miyabi had a talk with Chief Lezareno but they suspect some figures in Choina… The extent of the whole affair is yet under investigation."

"Hum. I see."

"By the way. Step-brother Miyabi says a stinking donut is behind it."

"Stinking donut…? Oh come on."

"Auppp…" Rush looked annoyed.

"He's offended." Saito translated.

"My, my. Well then. To avoid a battle over pride… I shall go out through the backdoor: the _perfect_ escape route… Let's meet again… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… _Nin_!"

Shadow Man vanished with a cloud of dust and Sigma chuckled while the others didn't seem to find the whole deal funny at all.

"That guy…" Netto grumbled.

"I know. He doesn't change."

"Newest banner!"

"Swallow us, Earth."

"Aup?"

"Ahem! "Of vile ones and pure ones is the essence of life Universal as written by Universal Man AKA Cosmo Man. 137 BCE. Zin Zan."…"

"Oh come on. Cosmo Man hacked into the forum Dragon – san visits and corrupted another Choina proverb… Universal Man… It's no wonder why he nicknamed himself "the smug Mister Cosmos"…"

"Au~ppp?" Rush wondered.

"Yeah. The town goes mad in the summer, Rush… Run for your sanity…!"

"Jeez. Why do these things happen to us, anyway?"

13:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… De masu~! Welcome, Nelaus – kun! No! Don't say anything! I KNOW what you MUST gain to WIN! Masu~!"

"… I'm somewhat skeptical, Higure – san…"

"Join the club, Nelaus…"

"I know, Isaac, I know…"

"Huff. Ya-mi-ta-rou! Stop dancing atop the desk!"

"Huh… Trouble… I guess…"

"Pyururu?"

A guy had come to Higureya and Higure Yamitarou began to dance atop the desk while trying to sell him something: Number Man fumed, Kiddo Shuuko looked nervous and Aqua Man seemed to be puzzled: the guy's Navi made a sarcastic comment and the guy sighed.

"Nelaus – kun! My "Love Pact" Battle Chip will do wonders! Masu!"

"L-love Pact…?"

The guy, Nelaus, was about the twins' age and maybe some inches taller than either Netto or Saito.

He had neatly arranged blonde hair which ended at his neck's base and his eyes' irises were green emerald.

His facial features were rather smooth and suave, thus making him stand out somehow.

He carried a Link PET arm strap: his Link PET was colored golden and purple: its emblem was the Alphabet letter "I" colored purple.

"What in the…" Isaac, the Navi, cursed.

"Insert it and… Magic! De masu! You will find a love opponent! I guarantee its success! Masu~!"

"Try it with Mariko – sensei first, you rascal." Number Man growled.

CRASH!

"Masu~…"

"Oh come on."

"Jeez."

Higure gasped in fear and lost his footing so he crashed behind the desk and seemed to be somewhat stunned.

"Isaac… What do we do?"

"Well."

Isaac, his Net Navi, had a unique design and was about a meter and eighty tall.

His face was young and looked like a guy on his teens: his eyes' irises were purple and they had a hint of amusement to them.

His helmet had a central ruby jewel over the forehead shaped like a cross having four triangle ends: eight lines radiated from the central of it and spread across its surface.

The helmet's main color was navy blue and it was also filled with small round and random green dots.

His ear-pads had a white edge and a reddish central body: the Alphabet "I" letter colored purple had been printed there.

His neck had a piece of armor shaped like the Alphabet "V" protecting its base before the start of the chest: it had a cyan edge which split it into two halves the insides of which were colored yellow.

His shoulders were slightly curved square pieces with brown edges, a central silver matrix and five bronze paws forming out of the southern edge which weren't even 5cm long.

His main body color was blue and a central thin purple line spread from the neck's base until his waist, being interrupted by his chest emblem which had the same design as that of his ear-pads.

Some small jade-colored pieces made of two triangles aiming in opposite directions fused at their base were set in columns along the sides of his upper body: none of them were taller than 2cm.

His waist had a belt with three converging rectangular stripes of white edges and black body.

These fused in a diamond having a gray body plus a repetition of his Navi emblem on its center.

His arms had purplish DNA imprints painted over their surface.

His forearm armor had a magenta matrix on them while his wrists were colored in a bronze color.

His hands were blue in color too and they had a circle with a white edge the insides of which depicted the Katana "I" colored purple: some "stars" were drawn at random over the background of the symbol.

His legs had some round dots set along their height which contained a drawing: the edge was brown, the core of it was purple and eight slightly curved lines painted red stretched from the core: the gaps between each one were colored blue.

The knees contained a circling bracelet colored mahogany and having those two fused triangles on the front colored golden.

The boots were colored purple and had an eight-pointed sapphire set on the inward side just below the ankle

Eight thin indigo lines spread from each spook of the sapphire and across the boot.

Overall he was very cool and looked advanced.

"Forget about the guy."

"Well. Guess that."

"What… would you want?" Shuuko timidly asked.

"A Super Vulcan…"

"Alright…"

Shuuko picked the case and placed it on the counter: Nelaus took out his wallet and paid for the Chip.

"See you."

"Thank… you."

"Yamitarou. You moron." Number Man grumbled.

"Mariko – _sensei_~… De masu~…"

"Pyururu~…"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… The Desk God is your enemy, Higure Yamitarou!" Shadow Man's voice echoed.

"Not again with Shadow Man… He drives me MAD." Isaac fumed.

"Anyone would be… Time to scram…"

"And to scream, Rainon…" Shadow Man made a lame pun.

"Jeez."

Nelaus came outta the store before Shadow Man could pull another on him and heard a chuckle: he turned to the right and spotted Ooyama Dekao walking towards there while rubbing his hands in excitement: Chisao followed him but he had his arms folded and looked both annoyed and skeptical.

"Today I get an Ultra Rare Mega Super Rare Chip and I beat the crap outta Sigma once and for all! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Guts, guts! Guts Man will win!"

"Hmpf! Chu! Dream on, niichan! There's no such thing! Chu!"

"Au~p."

"Wha! Rush! Where'd ya been at?"

"Yay! Chu! Rush's back!"

"Let's get away NOW." Isaac whispered.

"Sure thing…" Nelaus grumbled.

He ran off while Rush grinned as he signaled the store: Dekao peeked inside and grinned.

"Oho! Higure – san is KO! Chance!"

"Chu! Dream on, niichan!"

"Aup! Pau! Rau~h!"

"What?"

"Guts, guts. Rush says Dekao will become Clown Man."

"WHAT? THIS GUY!"

"Aup!"

Rush opened his Rush Hole and dived into the ground: Dekao fumed and headed inside of the store as Ijuuin Enzan strolled down the street from the opposite ground: he had his hands stuffed into the pockets and looked amused.

"Heh. Dekao is gonna learn the consequences of his own "reality distortion field", I guess."

"So it'd seem, Enzan – sama." Blues calmly commented.

"Well. Laika's overseas but he should be coming in 2 days' time. We'll need to gather a lot of strength if we want to assault those UFOs from the inside. Not like the "Net Saviors" are going to let those foreign hackers get away with it, anyway… The "Dark Side" jerks can wait…"

"Indeed."

"… UWA~H! A FLYING _KATANA_~! RUN FOR YOUR NECKS!"

"Chu! _Baka _niichan! That's a hologram! Chu!"

"Jeez. Shadow Man and the guy's lame sense of humor… The city goes mad AGAIN and AGAIN…! Is there no end to the madness?"

14:14 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hiya~! Nelaus – ku~n!"

"Aura – chan. So you dropped by, huh?"

"What. Did something happen? You've got such a long face!"

"Higure – san acting the clown."

"Oh yes! Ayanokouji – san told me plenty about him."

"Jeez. Ayanokouji, the lil gal… She talks too much."

"At least Glyde is silent."

"But he _glides_, Isaac – kun!"

"How original, Felicia – chan. I've got the feeling someone invented that way before you did."

"Tee, heh, heh."

Nelaus reached his house and spotted a girl standing in front of the entrance and who waved at him.

This girl was around fifteen years old and roughly a few inches shorter than Nelaus.

She had orange curly hair and blue eyes.

Today she sported a brown sleeveless leather jacket coupled with a knee-long skirt, and brown leather boots.

She also carried her arm strap for her Link PET and a handbag: her Link PET's emblem was a stylized "F" letter colored white and black and set against a blue background which was decorated with snow drops.

"Alright! Let's crush!"

"Crush? Crush… What? Some nuts?"

"Tee, heh, heh!"

"Jeez." Felicia fumed from inside of Aura's PET.

"Is there some secret meaning?"

"Popularly… "Crush" stands for "love relationship" or "coupling"…"

"Hum. I see."

Felicia came out with the projector and directed a scolding glare at Aura who ignored it.

She seemed to be around her Operator's height at a first glance.

Her helmet was colored olive green and it had a sapphire set into its forehead which glowed differently depending on the light's angle: the helmet included a cobalt blue matrix over its surface.

Her eyes were cobalt blue as well and two twin tails of blondish hair came out from behind her head.

Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt blue instead and her emblem was the same one as in the PET.

Her shoulders were anatomically correct and had ruby plating over them while her arms and elbow were colored in a mix of blue and white decorated with emerald square dots.

Her forearms were colored orange and had eight thin pink circles circling along their length.

Her legs used a mix of blue and yellow and contained diamond-shaped brown dots scattered at random.

The boots had been painted using orange color and had zigzag patterns which vertically spanned the height of them.

"Let's go, _honey_~…"

"Sure, sure." Nelaus drily replied.

Nelaus unlocked the house and they came inside the living room: Aura sat down on the sofa on the north wall while Nelaus headed into the kitchen and began to prepare some tea: the PET rang so Isaac activated the holographic screen: Sakurai Meiru was onscreen.

"Chut! Nelaus – kun… Be careful with Yaito – chan… She's up to something sneaky!" She whispered.

"No wonder, Miss Sakurai."

"Well. That's all. See ya."

"Be careful as well." Roll hushed to Isaac.

"OK."

The call got cut and Nelaus waited as the teapot heated up: there was a chuckle coming from his PET and Isaac sighed.

"Cloud Man. I know it's you. Go tell Swallow Man that Kujaku Mai's "Harpie Ladies" are his Bahamas Primitive Barbarian Terrific And Deadly Cousins." Isaac improvised a silly titled.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Good, Isaac, good! I always knew ya had a knack for this: I've known since last summer!" Darkloid Cloud Man's voice laughed.

"Yeah. I know. And if you don't go back soon your precious Commander Freeze Man will get vehemently disgusted!"

"Ugh! No good!"

"Phew. I shook him off somehow. Let's let the guy quarrel with Swallow Man and hope he stops lurking before the firewall. He knows he can't come in so he teases us like that."

Nelaus finished preparing the tea and served it into two teacups: he placed them in a platter and brought it to the living room where he set them into the desk: Aura lowered the PET and set it on the table.

"Sakurai – san told me Ms. Heiress was up to something sneaky." She admitted.

"Ah. I see."

"I think she wants to involve B-Class' Masuko – kun."

"Arushi Masuko? Jeez. Why won't she leave anyone in peace?"

"Dunno."

"How lovely."

"Someone save us! Yaito – sama upgraded the land mowers and now they fly! The sky hoppers!" Glyde began to hysterically knock into the firewall from the outside.

"By all the… I knew this would end up happening. Come in, Glyde, fella, and get into the bunker."

"A~h! Isaac – dono! Felicia – sama! It is terrible! Yaito – sama plans on having them fly across the city and place the blame into a curse~!" Glyde ran in and looked about to go mad.

"By all the…" Even Aura cursed.

"Join the club." Isaac sarcastically told Glyde.

"I do get the irony, sir."

"Desu? What's wrong, Glyde – san?" Ice Man asked from the outside.

"We saw him run like he was going to be slaughtered…" Hikawa Tooru admitted.

"The lil heiress' sky mowers…"

"Sky mowers…! First trying to make me play the boyfriend to quit it and now this…! I thought she was joking back in early 2008 but…" He rolled his eyes.

"Someone save us!" Glyde pleaded.

"Where's her father?" Aura sighed.

"He is to come back tomorrow morning but I'm not sure if we'll be in one piece by then!" He exclaimed.

"Heck. How else can we stop her?" Nelaus sighed.

"Hum… Hard to say…" Aura trailed off.

"Hit her with a frying pan." Felicia grumbled.

"Oh come on! Felicia, dear. Violence only feeds violence."

"I knew it. I was being sarcastic."

"Call her father. NOW." Isaac told Glyde.

"I've tried. But I'm afraid he's embarked into the plane already. He had to come back from Paris!"

"Paris! Heck. I'm sure she timed it all, even."

"Aupppp?" Rush popped out the ground.

"Rush, was it? Well. I'm Isaac. Say. You know Ayanokouji, right?"

"Auppp…" He nodded.

"Good. Then go give her a message from me: IPC is gonna invent the Mole Mower to get rid of garden moles." Isaac snickered.

"Aup! Aup, au~p!" He grinned.

He opened the hole and ran off while everyone sighed in relief.

"The mere mention of IPC should be enough to trigger her envy and pride and get obsessed with inventing something else which can beat garden moles and which isn't mowers." Isaac sighed.

"Huh! We're saved… For now." Glyde sighed.

"Yeah. For now… We gotta prepare some emergency measures or we won't make it through this summer…" Nelaus grimly sentenced.

"Huff. I totally agree on that. Maybe your uncle could help pretending he's going to write a "Book of Inventions" and invent the "Anti-Mower-Mower-Anti"… And have her boil the brains to try to figure out how it's supposed to work…" Aura suggested.

"Yeah. We'll have to go for that kind of strategy and I'll also need Ijuuin's collaboration… Man! What a July afternoon."

"Jeez. Ayanokouji – san… Behave like an adult already!"

The group sighed in defeat: Yaito drove them all mad…


	2. Chapter 2: City Defense

**Chapter 2: City Defense**

11:31 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday July the 25th…

"… Charge Shot!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. Demon Rings!"

"Charged shotgun shot!"

"Plasma Gun!"

"Tee, heh, heh! Roll Arrow!"

"Z – Saber!"

"CF" Netto shot a Charge Shot at Darkloid Bowl Man and he was deleted: he ran forward through a street in a city which showed signs of fighting given some broken windows, cracks in the streets and what looked like batteries for something: Sigma was with him and shooting some blue thin rings which trapped Viruses inside of them and electrocuted them: Blood Shadow loaded his shotgun's barrels and unloaded them into another Bowl Man who got in the way.

"Omega's here to slash them."

Omega, another Navi fighting alongside them, was about one meter and eighty tall.

He wore a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots.

Two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed calm and concentration while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached until the floor.

"Hmpf… Rubbish…"

"Sure, Zero…"

Zero was also there and driving his sword through a Snake Man who jumped out of a broken store exhibition window and tried to bite him: the Snake Man roared and blew up.

"Tee, heh, heh! Finally! About time ya let me join the club, Netto!" "CF" Roll giggled.

"My bad, Meiru – chan. I thought you wouldn't like this." Netto apologized to her.

"Well. You should've let me try at least once!"

"Phew. It'd seem we've buried that topic of some months ago…" Saito muttered to Netto.

"Sure… Let's pretend it didn't happen…"

"By the way… Where's Nelaus – kun? He started with us." She brought up while looking around.

"Oh? Nelaus? True. I think he picked another road to test himself and see if he could clear that enemy-heavy road…"

"Sure thing… There are Janissaries even! Someone here has been playing that PC game… What was the name again?" Nelaus complained over the radio.

"Mwah, hah, hah. _Tzar: The Burden of the Crown_!"

"Sinner! Be gone! Pharaoh Cubes!"

"Jeez. This Pharaoh Man guy IS annoying."

"Be glad it isn't the original." "CF" Netto warned.

"Guess I should."

"Sinner! Be gone! Pharaoh Curse!"

"HEY! Where'd that come out from?"

"I didn't do that." Sigma warned.

"I didn't either." Omega frowned.

"Not me." A voice said over the radio.

"Then, who? Kir Osh?"

"Hmmm… Could be… It can't be Cloud Man… They can't get past any of the 3 firewalls…" The voice muttered.

"… Trill?" "CF" Netto wondered.

"Somehow it wouldn't surprise me. He's got intelligence despite being a child-model Navi." The man muttered.

"Geh! My HP drop at a rate of 6.66 per second! This is some irony!"

"If I am not overcome that curse shall not be broken!"

"Stop chatting like an Edo age guy. Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon!"

"Mugro~h!"

There was the sound of an explosion and then a door was kicked outta the frame from the inside: "CF" Nelaus came out into the street the others were at.

"PHEW!"

His eyes remained the same and some blonde hair popped out behind the helmet.

The helmet kept the blue coloring yet it had gained three square dots on the ear-pads and on the middle of the forehead which were colored golden, crystal and silver from left to right: a black matrix filled the rest of the helmet's surface.

The emblem remained unchanged and so did the armor protecting the base of his neck: yet, on the space below the emblem and before the waist belt (unchanged) the alphabet letters "N" and "S" colored in a platinum color had been drawn: the "N" was on the left and the "S" to the right of the vertical line splitting the body in two.

The shoulder design hadn't changed.

The arms' patterns remained the same yet his forearms armor was different: the armor over the wrist was transparent purple in color and the Alphabet "N" letter colored green was set over it: the space over the palm had a black circle which contained a small red dot in the middle surrounded by different scales of red from dull red to crimson red.

The fingers had transparent red rings set on each one which glowed with a dull red glow.

His waist belt design hadn't been altered and his legs' drawings and knee guards were still the same.

His boots had slightly changed because they now had red and black matrixes across their whole surface and they included those "eyes" like in the space over the hands and set on both sides of each boot.

"Phew. That wasn't easy."

"Trill…! We'll have to tell Iris to make sure she keeps him off the Command Bridge or something bad can happen." "CF" Netto sighed in relief.

"Maybe ya would prefer that Iris gal to me, Netto?" "CF" Meiru teased.

"No." He drily replied.

"My, my. How dry."

"Jeez. I was kidding when I said I wanted to hook him." Roll fumed.

"Sakurai… Don't start up trouble where there isn't. As if we didn't have enough with those UFOs…" Omega grumbled.

"My, my. Crimson – sama got annoyed by the lil girl!"

"Jeez. I knew Roll had to be kidding back then." Omega grumbled.

"Come on, Miss Sakurai… Let's try to be constructive!" "CF" Nelaus told her.

"Let's try to be some more destructive, blond – sama."

"That's a pun on "Bond", right?" Isaac seemed to see it coming.

"Bravo, Caasi – amas!"

"Not with the anagrams again…! Go walk." He fumed.

"Go shatter a vase of flowers."

"A vase of flowers?" Zero seemed to frown, even.

"It's – a – secret!" She giggled.

"Guess it's some nickname… Not my problem…"

"But your doom."

"HUH? Say that again?"

"Don't ya bring booms and bangs along?" She giggled.

"That joke's lame and I've already heard it." He fumed.

"Alright, alright! Cool it, all of you!" "Boss" commanded.

"_Hai_~…" They muttered (save Meiru) with some frustration.

"You've got to… HUH? Trill! Oh come on. He hacked the VR!"

"What, we gotta face a "Messiah" or what?" Omega grumbled.

"No. Retake a Magic Gateway. But the problem is that once you get closer than 5 meters from any direction… Then it's set to spawn 50 Ghosts, 50 Orcs, 50 Dwarves and 50 Skeletons in the North, West, East and South respectively. The problem is that they're edited to have 200 HP, 55 Attack, 35 Defense and 11 Experience Points. They won't be easy to smash: you'll have to go for the heavy firepower."

"Guess I'll have to risk trying Isaac's Special Abilities in "CF" form."

"Yeah. Guess that."

"Tee, heh, heh. My Arrows of Doom will Doom them all." "CF" Meiru made up a silly joke on the spot.

"Jeez. Meiru – chan. That joke's lame." Roll complained.

"So?"

"So… What?"

"Are you interested?"

"In what?"

"In borrowing a new-gen "Copy Roid" and materializing…"

"Could be."

"Oho."

"What?"

"Then ya could go with Saito – kun to the "D" and have fun!"

"MEIRU – CHAN!" She got annoyed for real.

"I thought you said you didn't want to become like the "Ice Queen" to that rascal two years ago." "CF" Netto calmly reminded her.

"I was joking! No sense of humor…" She muttered with some annoyance.

"There's a limit to joking. Weren't you telling me two days ago that someone had to stop Miss Heiress before it went outta control?" "CF" Nelaus reminded her as well.

"Jeez."

"Huff. Let's end the VR and we'll talk later!" Zero grumbled.

"Sure. We'll be going on ahead."

Omega drew a pyramidal energy saber colored emerald green and which had a trapeze base with a rectangular hilt.

"Fine~… Let's go meet the Undead Squad and then we gotta talk, both of you." She glanced at the two "CF" users.

"_Hai_~…" They muttered in a resigned tone of voice.

They converged in a crossroad where there was a mount of rock with a short flight of stairs leading to an eye-like formation set on the topmost spot: some structures made of wood and bone were erected around it.

"That's it! Careful! Coming!" Omega warned.

A squad of Dwarves (wearing partial leather armor and a helmet) appeared and drew the hammers they were wielding: they ran towards Blood Shadow and Omega who began to bust them.

"Second group!"

Skeleton warriors with a sword and a wooden shield with metallic frame showed up next and advanced for "CF" Roll and "CF" Netto.

"Third group!"

Ghosts having no arms or legs and being just clad in a white robe while hovering inches over the ground showed up: they had skull faces as well and they quickly advanced for Blood Shadow.

"Last group!"

Orcs (having green skin and partial leather armor) showed up and walked while wielding double-edged axes: "CF" Nelaus got ready to face them given his pose.

"Elemental Cannon!"

"CF" Nelaus right forearm got greenish armor over it, his left forearm formed red armor, his right boot gained extra bluish armor and the left boot was strengthened by yellow armor: energy flew out of each and formed a white spheroid: he then pushed it forward and it became a beam of energy which expanded as it flew across the space and hit the enemies fully: most of them were decimated.

"Good. I've managed to improve them and they don't inflict me additional tiredness." He muttered.

"Coming."

"Revenge Bomb!"

He formed a metallic spheroid with a LED display on its middle and set it to 5 seconds before throwing it at the enemies: it exploded and took the remaining of them out.

"Phew. How's it going, guys?"

"And gals!"

"My bad."

"They were pretty frail despite their strengthened values."

Indeed: all other enemies were already decimated and Omega stepped towards the top of the mount: the "eye", which had been lacking a color until then, became purple.

"Subspace has captured the Magic Gateway." An automated voice intoned at the same time.

"Mission: completed." Another auto-voice confirmed.

"Phew!"

The whole environment became cybernetic and began to spin as they floated there: a white round shining "portal" formed and several lines of energy seemed to travel towards it: they began to hover and "fly" towards the opening.

"Yahoo~!"

All became white and the next moment "CF" Netto, "CF" Roll and "CF" Nelaus were standing in a room having a green matrix with black squares covering its surface: the walls were bare steel as well and it could be about 4 meters tall: a "Dimensional Area" was taking effect there and it covered the whole of the surface too.

"Cross Out!"

They all reverted outta "Cross Fusion" as the "Dimensional Area" powered off and the matrix vanished: the lights came on and a holographic results screen popped out.

VR SIMULATOR

MODE: CUSTOMIZER

STYLE: BATTLEFIELD

DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM

TIME: 09:55

RANK: B

USERS: OMEGA, ZERO, B S, SIGMA, H N, N R, S M, RM EXE, ISAAC EXE, ROLL EXE

HAVE A NICE DAY!

"Rank B?" Meiru seemed surprised.

"We spent too much time arguing." Netto sighed.

"Well. We're not going to fight over that." Nelaus shrugged.

"Of course not, but… Meiru – chan! We gotta TALK!"

"About "D"?"

"D, D…! Stop bringing that up! It's not funny!"

"So they say."

"I can say that myself! Do you think what happened 4 years ago was funny for us?" Netto grumbled.

"4 years ago? Huh… I can't remember." She frowned.

"Not like we ever got to tell any of our friends what _really_ happened."

"Huh! I'd forgotten. We just airbrushed it saying those two wanted ransom and that was all." Netto remembered.

"By "those two"…" Nelaus began.

"Yay! Trill did it! Trill improved the VR!"

"Speaking of the genius…"

A Navi ran into the room and they stopped their conversation.

Trill, the newcomer, wore a yellow and white bodysuit and his emblem was blank: he had two pockets on both sides of the suit.

Two curious cone-shaped forms emerged from his helmet. He had two small spheres attached to the tips of them.

His face looked like that of 5 or 6 – years old child and he had green emerald irises.

"Next time warn us! Or ask Vadous – san to do it! It could've been dangerous!" Netto warned.

"Huh? Ah! But Trill made sure that what happened last summer wouldn't happen, see!"

"Trill! What's this talk about improving the VR? You did something prohibited?"

"Oh. Iris. Well… Not really prohibited but it could've been dangerous for all we know…"

A girl stepped into the room next.

Her height could be approximately the same as the three teens.

Her eyes' irises were colored green and abundant brown hair fell down across her back until it reached the waist: two largely white flowers adorned the sides of her head.

She wore a one-piece dress consisting on a white skirt reaching until the knees, more or less, while the dress itself was pink in color: she sported black knee-high boots as footing.

"Trill! Explain yourself!" She commanded.

"Yikes! Oneechan…! Eh… Trill… Trill thought that… Trill could do something helpful! So… Trill got into the Main Computer and… Trill studied it… To figure out… the VR System… and…" He began to admit while blushing and looking at the ground.

"But how didn't anyone detect you? And when did you do that? While I was sleeping?" She questioned.

"Y-yeah… From time to time… And since Uncle Omega and the others only watched the outside of the firewalls, then…"

"Huff. And why didn't you try asking Vadous – san?"

"Well… Trill thought of that at the start but… Trill thought Vadous – san was busy and all… That Trill would get in the way…"

"Well. I'll admit that part but… You should've realized you were playing with something which could become a double-edged sword!"

"Double-edged… sword?"

"It can seem to be good but it can have its bad part. You brought up what happened one year ago."

"Yeah… Sigma messed up with the system and we ended up uploaded into "_Tzar"_ sprites and needing to beat the PC player… It was like that "Reboot" series where characters entered an uploaded game and assumed the game's forms and roles…" Netto recalled.

"Now, now! Let's not get angry here."

"Oh! Vadous – san! Trill…"

"I know. I was hearing."

"Yikes!"

A man stepped into the room.

He looked on his mid – twenties, had messy jet black hair and red eye irises.

He wore an open navy blue vest and a white t-shirt with the Chrysler Building's silhouette painted set on it plus black and white sports pants and white sneakers.

"Now, Trill… I'm not angry with what you did but… Next time around try asking me, alright? I admit that I've been busy with trying to tackle this UFO affair but…" He told Trill.

"So Mister Vadous will forgive Trill?"

"Of course! You wanted to improve the experience for everyone: that's not a bad idea! But next time you gotta tell me."

"OK!"

"Phew." Iris sighed in relief.

"Oh. By the way, Sakurai – kun… How was it?"

"Fine, mister. It was exciting… By the way, Netto… We gotta finish the earlier chat!"

"Huh… This place is a bit uncomfortable… Let's go to one of the guest bedrooms." Netto suggested instead.

"Fine. Let's go."

"Don't fight each other." Vadous warned.

"We'll be careful." Nelaus nodded in understanding.

The group of three came out into a curved metallic corridor which had some arches every some tens of meters: metallic armored and labeled doors were placed on either side and some fluorescent lights illuminated the space.

"There's one right here… The other guys had uploaded themselves from another VR room in the lower deck… They must've dispersed and gone to their duties by now…"

They headed down the corridor and entered a bedroom on the left side which had a pair of beds without blankets but with the mattress, a desk, and two chairs: Meiru sat on one bed while both guys sat on the one opposite.

"Alright. We hadn't told you either, Nelaus, because we saw no need to bring it up." Netto began.

"Of course. Not like I need to know all of your experiences… If you have something you don't like telling then…" He shrugged.

"So? What happened?"

"Those two abducted us from the party… And brought us to a hidden mansion with a basement… And a "d" had been set up there…"

"Oh?" She lifted the right eyebrow.

"What's with the "d", anyway?" Nelaus asked.

"Short for "dungeon"…"

"But aren't those in _The Legend of Zelda_? It originally meant a castle's underground prison cells, didn't it?" He frowned.

"Nowadays… The term "dungeon" is also associated with S&M sex: it's a place where lots of S&M plays are done… Sometimes it's just some scenery and pro porn actors and actresses play along but… Other times they're deadly, people are trapped there, and tortured." Rock Man warned.

"Yikes." Isaac gasped.

"Heck. I remember Aura – chan bringing it up once, too."

"I guess she was teasing you. I don't see Tamashita – san as the type to want to play S&M sex." Meiru frowned.

"More like the contrary, I think…" Isaac warned.

"Ah! So she meant to play _dominatrix_?"

"Yeah. But I think she was teasing nevertheless. I don't see her as the type to hurt anyone. I think she heard tales of that on the girls-only institute she'd been attending before coming over to Akihara Middle last winter so she used those to try to tease me…" Nelaus admitted.

"Aha. Can we continue?"

"My bad. I cut you off. So?"

"Well. We had to endure a 24-hour "Endurance Marathon"…"

"Yikes." Even Meiru seemed to feel the fright of the name.

"Somehow we ended up sane despite being unable to release… In _yaoi_ S&M the grace is to plug the opponent's penis and leave them unable to release… It can bring some important stress if you're forced to keep like that for hours on end." Saito warned.

"Heck. I guess the same applies to _dominatrix_ or _femdom_?" Roll gasped.

"In fact… That "Empress" we faced in early 2008…" Rock Man began to say but trailed off.

"… I've remembered, yeah… It was a split personality of me born from the shock of seeing the cruel world out there when I wasn't ready to assimilate it… I was _naïve_… And then Count Elec triggered it back when the N1 Grand Prix… With that "Devil Chip"…"

"I'm sorry, Roll… Back then… Before the N1 Grand Prix, I mean… I had a Science Labs staff member seal that personality…"

"It's OK by now, Meiru – chan… That personality was taken off me by early 2008, anyway… That terrific _dominatrix_ maniac…"

"Well. Through our stubbornness we managed to remain sane and they found us when the 24 hours had been overcome. It took us another whole day to fully recover. But that was the trigger to our behavior insofar along these years between me, Saito – niisan and Tooru – kun…"

"Yeah… Back in March… I said something rash… I got my head stuffed with a silly soap opera… And I wouldn't accept reality… But now I see that I should've seen it coming… Don't worry, Netto… I really don't care for the "boyfriend-girlfriend" deal at all… I just want to make sure we're still childhood friends, see." Meiru sighed.

"Of course. Nothing's changed."

"Thanks."

"Well. Should we head back to the surface?"

"Sure. By the way, Meiru – chan… Remember it… This place IS Top-Secret and it's through me that you could come here… I'm just reminding you to keep it quiet and pretend we went to some Net Police facility."

"Sure. Some things are better off not knowing."

"Next time I'll confront Aura – chan and tell her that one shouldn't lightly joke with the "dungeon" topic…" Nelaus sighed.

"Felicia – chan is more straight-headed in that aspect."

"…the creeping undead corpse which signals the descent of the Undead God, Zin Xong Enq, and thus…" A voice began to mutter in English with a slight Choina accent: it came through the speakers.

"Jeez. Sigma patched us live to Dragon – san AGAIN…" Netto sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Undead God…? Sure, sure." Meiru looked skeptical.

"Zin Xong Enq… Sounds like a parody if you ask me." Isaac grumbled.

"Yay! Mister Dragon! The Dragon Tribe's descent!"

"Indeed, Young One."

"Mwah, hah, hah…"

"Sigma! Pissing me off already~? You and Dragon Hell over there!" Vadous grumbled.

"Yikes! Boss!"

"Huh… Well…" Dragon Hell trailed off.

"Let's not start the farce AGAIN!" Omega fumed next.

"Beware, Meiru – chan… This place goes weirder than Yaito – chan's random humor…" Netto hushed.

"I can see that. Jeez."

"Madness seems to chase us anywhere we go to." Nelaus complained next as he stood up and stretched.

"Let's get out already." Rock Man fumed.

"Sure. The sooner the better."

"If we want to remain sane!" Roll grimly muttered.

"Get back to work, you rascals!"

"What a morning! Jeez." Meiru fumed.


	3. Chapter 3: Organizations

**Chapter 3: Organizations**

12:12 PM (Japan Time), Thursday July the 27th…

"… Phew. We're finally here, eh, Martin?"

"Sure, Charles… That trip to Ameroupe felt like it was unending…"

"Phew. Back in Japan…"

"Heh! Time to make my Colts sing!"

Two guys stepped out of the arrivals area of an airport and into the main hall.

One of them could be about a meter and seventy-five in height but his age was around his early 20s.

He had messy silver hair which spread slightly backwards and formed some spikes: his eyes' irises were blue.

His clothes consisted on a navy blue overcoat which had a central silver button about the waist.

His coat then opened to expose his legs although it covered the rear of them.

He wore a black shirt beneath the overcoat plus black fingerless gloves on his hands: he also sported black jeans and sneakers.

The right shoulder contained blackish armor with an orange-colored edge and a silver button right over it which seemed to help it be gripped to the shoulder: three circles were then drawn on his right sleeve before a triangular piece of armor expanded over the hand: its main body was black too and it had orange edges.

His PET was colored silver and brown and had an emblem: it was a perfect golden-colored cross which was drawn inside of a silver circle having a brownish edge.

"Dave~! I want to see some magazines you snuck onboard!" He began to laugh.

"Jeez! Charles! Stop kidding me." His Navi complained.

The Navi projected with the hologram.

His body suit was colored in a deep brown color and he appealed as being about a meter and eighty tall in height.

His eyes' irises were chestnut brown and his face seemed to be shaped after a man on his early 20s: he currently displayed some annoyance which they didn't bother to conceal.

His helmet's color was red and so were his boots and forearms: the helmet had the _kanji_ for "seigi" or "justice" written in a golden coloring vertically across his forehead's height.

The Navi seemed to wear a vest over his chest armor colored silver.

This vest had bronze edges: it also had the Alphabet character "D" colored golden set on each side of its body.

His arms contained four thin brownish stripes running down the north, south, west and east side of them until they drew four circles around the wrist: his forearms had extra armor over it colored in a grayish color plus a small red dome inside of each palm.

The legs' length had been designed to include a network of patterns interconnected by some nodes which were reminiscent of human nerves: the boots' front edge was shaped like a triangle and so was the heel: they apparently served as close-quarters combat weapons.

"Ryuuto~! Snatch 'em all!"

"Jeez. Charles. My name's Martin and you know it."

Charles' partner, Martin, looked around a bit younger than Charles by one or two years and shorter by about 4 to 5 centimeters.

He had unkempt reddish hair and brown eye irises which currently depicted slight annoyance.

He sported a golden-colored sleeveless vest which was open and he had a black t-shirt underneath it

He also wore blue jeans with a modern-looking double-row belt.

He had an arm strap for a Link PET on his right arm: the Link PET was colored in camouflage colors.

Its emblem was a skull colored black and with blue eyes set against a silver background.

"Time to sing "Bang, Bang, Lucky Lander"!"

"That's a parody from "Lucky Luke" and you know it, Lander." Martin sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

Martin's Navi projected from inside of his Link PET.

He wore a Mexican-style hat over his brown dust – colored helmet which also had some random blue and black dots scattered around it: his eyes' irises were brown.

His main body was colored navy blue and he had an open blackish vest over the torso: he exhibited a _Sheriff_'s star on the right side of his torso which glowed.

His shoulders were anatomically correct and they had brass plating.

The arms' length and the elbows were colored brown too and his forearms were green with two orange circling bands on them: his wrists had metallic bracelets on them.

He sported a black leather belt with two Colt revolvers on it along with bullets on his waist.

His legs were also colored brown but he had jeans over them which ended at the start of his boots.

The boots were colored black: they had blue and brown dots across them.

"So? Is there any welcome committee? Maybe a beauty?" Charles joked as he looked around the hall.

"Jeez."

"Yo!"

"Welcome back."

"My. It's Hot Mountain and Cold Ice."

"JEEZ! It's Ijuuin and Laika, Charles! Stop with the nicknames!"

Enzan and Laika waved at them and the two of them headed towards their spot: they shook hands and the Navis greeted each other.

"I've got my IPC limousine."

"Full of "something"." Laika joked.

"Jeez. It's just Coca-Cola." He grumbled.

"Not Maker's Mark Bourbon?" Charles joked.

"Jeez." Martin grumbled.

"Intriguing." Laika grinned.

"Go tuna." Enzan fumed.

"Go mackerel."

"Jeez. Let's go already."

Charles and Laika chuckled under their breaths: their Navis didn't find it funny and the other four didn't either: they stepped out where the IPC limousine was waiting at and they climbed in: the limousine departed and Charles and Martin glanced at the scenery.

"So. It'd seem Choina thinks we're idiots." Charles began.

"Oh?" Laika lifted his eyebrows.

"… "Lone hacker gang of 5 wolves"… Don't make me laugh. 5 wolves? And where'd they get the server power to build the UFOs?" Martin added.

"In short: they're a cut-out of the Choina Military." Enzan guessed while rubbing his chin.

"Correct." Davis confirmed.

"Heh! Meek fellas." Lander laughed.

"So it'd seem." Search Man calmly replied.

"Hum." Blues looked deep in though.

"So! In short: this whole UFO crisis in minor Internet Cities in Mongolia, Eastern Europe, Africa and South Ameroupe… Choina is betting on "Dimensional Converters" and abducts Navis en masse to use them as fuel for them… Just like "Nebula" did over 4 years ago."

"Heck. Nebula's ghost strikes back… Are you sure Twilight isn't the one financing those things?" Enzan grumbled.

"Well. We know from the records left behind by Kuroshiro Oriol that Twilight did do the same when he ruled over "Nebula" in that "other world"… So he could be involved… Remember one year ago when "Deadly Pandora" got into the move…? There was one of those UFO things involved although it worked differently…"

"Anyway… Any local news?" Martin asked.

"Oh yeah. There was this the other day around…"

Enzan interacted with the PET and displayed the Internet City stadium where Needle Man was facing against a Navi.

"Mwroh, wroh, wroh! Burn, baby! Salamander!"

"Shah, shah, shah! Go dream of flames! Needle Cannon! Messy Shooting!"

This Navi looked around two meters tall.

His head was shaped like a demon's with two blackish horns and reddish eye irises as well as sharp teeth: it was protected by a mail around the whole of its volume.

His body was colored red and had black metallic armor with purple diagonal patterns over the surface.

Two small wings with armor over it came out from behind him as well as a tail with a purple flame on it.

His hands and feet ended in sharp claws.

Purple flames surrounded his body.

He was wielding a wrecking ball and a large sharp lance filled with red thorns all over its surface.

His mere presence radiated an intense heat wave.

"That's Balrog, a former "Rama" member, right?" Charles recalled.

"Both of us had to deal with the same member a while ago, too." Martin rolled his eyes.

"The guy's becoming the local champion, see. Sigma and Needle Man try to challenge him and when it's Sigma it turns fierce and the stadium is filled like never before. It's like two titans clashing together." Enzan explained with a grin.

"And in the meanwhile you advertise the newest software update of the Link PET." Laika joked.

"Jeez."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! You fell into my trap! College of Charleston! I've got ya now!" A voice rang out from his PET.

"Shit. Swallow Man's ghost snuck inside."

"Stop with the "College of Charleston" joke and tell Cloud Man to invent the Cloud Ice Cream." Charles improvised.

"Hmpf! Then I'll invent the Swallow Ice Man! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Fled, the bird did…" Davis sighed in relief.

"That ain't a good symptom." Lander grumbled.

"Well. Let's wait. They'll start yelling to each other again soon enough."

"And then there were no yells." Laika joked to Enzan.

"Why do you always need to counter what I say with jokes, anyway? This guy…! Behave already!"

11:44 AM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Where are those two, Cosmo Man?"

"I shall offer no apologies, Commander Freeze Man. I'd gone to scout the Justice Council, sir."

"Hum. Gate Man?"

"My bad. I was compiling the latest batch of reports from Legion 64."

"Hmmm… Guess they've gone to stir up trouble…"

"As long as they don't come to haunt me…"

"I know, Bapgei, I know. The lesser evil."

A hologram of Freeze Man was talking with another hologram of Cloud Man inside of a Cyber World somewhere: "Zoanoroid" Gate Man (solid) had been looking at several screens when a voice from the real world rang out and a window opened.

"If only Cloud Man stopped stalking me…"

"I'm trying."

"I'm not saying ya aren't, Freeze Man, but the guy IS stubborn."

The window displayed a young man who had jet black hair and he had green emerald irises.

He could be around sixteen or seventeen years old.

"BOOP!" A sound rang out in the real world.

"What the heck? That was my Nintendo DS! The guy snuck inside or what this time around?" "Bapgei" growled.

He seemingly interacted with it and uttered a curse.

"Cloud Man! The moron! He hacked into my _Platinum_ game! He's picked a wild "Kabaldon", the hippopotamus PKMN and labeled it "Destroy Pet" while setting it to Level 40 with "Earthquake", "Fissure", "Rock Climb" and "Super Strength"…! The lousy hacker!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Don't worry, Sith – sama~! It won't corrupt your game, ya know!"

"Cloud Man! You fool!" Freeze Man hissed.

"Yikes! _Danna_ – sama!"

"Behave already!"

"What's this ruckus?" Someone asked in the real world.

"Master. Cloud Man again."

"CLOUD MA~N!"

"Uo~h! Twilight – sama~!"

This newcomer had blonde hair and his eyes' irises were green emerald too.

He seemed to be on his mid-twenties and was annoyed by now.

"What have you done NOW?"

"Hack my game."

"I told you to stop bothering my disciple, you moron! Are you deaf? Or are you hard of hearing?"

"W-well, but…"

"No "buts", you damned skinny ghost!"

"S-skinny ghost? Me~?" He gasped.

"Outta my sight!"

Cloud Man's hologram flickered, vanished, and a blue dot showed up on the circuitry: it began to travel across the pathways and was soon out of sight while Gate Man, Cosmo Man and Freeze Man sighed in relief at seeing Cloud Man run for it.

"Gate Man! I've got a mission for you."

"Roger, _Danna_."

"Go find Isaac and have a showdown! Remind him we're still around and that those silly UFOs won't get in the way!"

"Leave it to me."

"Go all out! Yet! Don't get cocky. Isaac was programmed by IQ – sama and Mr. Secretary. His hidden techniques are not to be looked down upon: get it, Gate Man?"

"Sure… I had a taste of his "CF" version firepower back in October… But I've got some aces up my sleeves, anyway…"

Gate Man formed his "Remote Gate", ran inside and it vanished: Twilight sneered and began to type into a keyboard to open a display showing Gate Man appearing atop a tower in Internet City.

"Isaac! Come out! Or else this tower will crumble to its foundations!"

"Asking for trouble already… How impatient."

Isaac appeared behind Gate Man who chuckled and turned to face him while drawing the Gate Cannon: Isaac drew a blade made of diamond which allowed light through it and wielded it.

"Heh, heh, heh. Gate Cannon! Triple Burst!"

"Wha?"

The Gate Cannon began to load energy and it suddenly shot three bolts of green, red and yellow energy which assumed different trajectories: Isaac quickly brought up the blade and deflected the yellow and green ones but the red one bounced into the ground and through the opening of his legs to hit a taller building behind him and bounce again thus ending up hitting his back and setting it on flames: Isaac growled.

"Battle Chip, Geyser!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I've improved."

"Heck. Then…!"

"You're going to shave your back?"

"What the heck? That's Twilight's lame humor."

"Guess that. Demon Hand!"

"Other Dimension Door!"

"What!"

Isaac formed a glowing purple round mass of energy and the "Demon Hand" went inside of it only to be cut off from Gate Man's chest and reappear from behind to grip him instead: Gate Man gasped and struggled while Isaac swung the blade and made a cut across the right arm's front: Gate Man howled.

"Damned brat!"

"_Clichéd_. Eat these!"

He formed two round blood red disks which he shot out and they climbed up Gate Man's body while opening crevices: the "Demon Hand" was cancelled but Isaac plunged the sword through the wound: Gate Man stepped back.

"Shit! Recovery!"

His wounds glowed and closed: he sighed in relief and then chuckled as he drew the Gate Cannon again.

"Quadruple Blast!"

"Heck."

"And Check."

"How lame."

The blasts shot out but now a blue one was included and this one quickly shot past Isaac by above him and began some intricate bouncing patterns: Isaac growled and began to try to block them but the blue one hit his right foot and formed a mass of ice around it: he slipped and ended up crashing into the ground face-up while growling.

"Fuck. This bastard!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

"What's up, Isaac? You left all of a sudden." Nelaus asked.

"Heh, heh, heh… Nelaus Rainon… The Count of Omens has sentenced you to… agonize!" "Bapgei" announced in English.

"Darth Bapgei." Nelaus grumbled.

"Did you miss me?"

"Not really. I missed your Carnival disguise."

"It cost me some bucks."

"Go collect a bludger."

"Collect a lazy guy? My, my."

"You sound better like this unlike our previous encounters."

"Guess that."

"Eat these!"

Isaac formed two yellowish orbs of energy: he shot them at Gate Man and attached to him to electrocute him: Gate Man howled.

"Go! Gate Soldiers!"

"Gate! Gate! Gate!"

"They're fans of that Gate fellow?" Nelaus sarcastically taunted Gate Man in a dull tone of voice.

"Hah! Good joke, Isaac…" Twilight told him over the line.

"Twilight."

"Ex – _senpai_. So you showed up."

"Indeed! To drive ya mad through that lil girl."

"Why did I see that coming?" Nelaus sighed.

"Explosive Ring!"

Isaac jumped and dropped into the ground and, when he touched, it a purplish ring of energy formed around him and quickly expanded across the ground as columns of purple energy shot skywards from all around its diameter: one hit Gate Man and the other some of the Gate Soldiers: Isaac rushed forward and his body began to glow with a golden glow before an explosion ensued and it sent Gate Man flying across the street and into the rooftop of the building in front: Isaac rushed there and Gate Man got back to his feet.

"Damned guy!"

"So! Nelaus! About to experience a "D"?" Twilight taunted.

"Who knows?" He calmly shot back.

"Ah. Ah. So you got told."

"Yeah. By some veterans."

"Yeah… Those basis materials…"

"I thought Boss disliked that."

"Huh! Then… The smart duo!"

"Well. Why not."

"This showdown…!" Gate Man began.

"Is exciting." A voice taunted.

"Who…? Che. The Net Saviors!"

"Yessir!"

Davis, Lander, Blues and Search Man were standing in a rooftop to the right and looking down (literally) on Gate Man who grumbled and seemed to get impatient.

"Che. Remote Gate! I'll be back!"

"_To be continued_." Bapgei announced.

"_To be ended_." Nelaus countered.

"_Good motto, dude_!"

"_Go away_."

"_Sure! Hasta la vista, baby!"_

The connection was cut and Isaac fumed as the four guys dropped down from above and landed there.

"So?" Blues asked.

"Just looking for a brawl…"

"Hum. But maybe they wanted to check if your abilities were still functional." Search Man suggested.

"It's logical to think." Davis muttered.

"Che. Bothersome jerks."

"Muwro~h! Well, well, well! Ain't this some strong fellows meeting?"

"Balrog."

Balrog flew up to the rooftop while chuckling: his Operator's screen opened but it only displayed someone having a bike helmet on colored red and white and with the _kako_ (Past) _kanji_ set on the forehead using blood red color.

"Rainon. Been a while…"

"Past. Yeah. Been a while…"

"Balrog… Don't burn out the stadium, OK?"

"Don't worry, Past! I followed Sigma's example and installed power limiters into me, see! Now I fight at 60% power!"

"Fine."

"Aupppp!"

"Huh? Who's that?"

"Ah. Rush. A dog-shaped Virus created by Hikari – hakase…"

"Oh? I think this guy was in my Sharo base a few months ago."

Rush popped out there and most of them were surprised yet Enzan recognized him.

"Yeah. I saw him in King Land too. I guess he's been checking on other Net Saviors apart from Hikari – kun."

"Auppp! Pau!"

Rush opened one of his holes and fumbled inside to draw a basket having a golden-colored soccer ball inside: he grinned and kicked it at the sky where it opened and made some _confetti_ rain down.

"Like a _piñata_, even." Nelaus muttered.

"ENZA~N!"

"Huh? Well. Ayanokouji."

"HOW DARE CHA~! YA STOLE MY IDEA~!"

"Who knows? Maybe Pegasus J. Crawford is to blame?"

Ayanokouji Yaito suddenly opened her communications window and looked like she was burning from her annoyance.

"Don't laugh at me, cha! Neo-punk!"

"That's a first." Laika grinned.

"Jeez." Enzan grumbled.

"That of the mowers was suggested by me, anyway." Nelaus admitted.

"What? Why!"

"Why, you ask? Well. To see if you'd stop pulling jokes on the others and focus on something else… You needed someone to set limits to you."

"Che! And Papa came over and began to have me remember business stuff and all!"

"Isn't it obvious? You're the heiress to Gabcom Inc.!"

"I thought I'd have a legion of secretaries to do the job for me!"

"No. Does your father do that?" Enzan argued next.

"Ki~h!"

"I had to learn a lot of business stuff and all to become VP. And it's true I have a pair of assistants but they handle the legal branches while I tackle the numbers, projects and strategies."

"This hero wannabe~!"

"Hero wannabe? You mean "Net Savior"…"

"Huff. I'm off." "Past" muttered.

"I've got an office to save~…" Charles laughed.

"Jeez. It's not funny to begin with." Martin grumbled.

"I've got some iced coffee waiting to be further iced by my breath."

"Laika – sama…!" Search Man grumbled.

"No good." Blues sighed.

"Jeez." Isaac grumbled.

"Mugro~h… Goin' back…"

"Let's pull out." Nelaus rolled his eyes.

"Ayanokouji. Descend into reality from the Matrix." Enzan challenged.

"Ki~h! I'll invent the Anti-Enzan-Mower!"

"Anti-Enzan-Mower… How original, really." Enzan muttered.

"It'll haunt cha dreams forever! Nyah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"YAITO! Behave already! Study! Now! Or else!"

"Uwa~h! Spare me, Papa~!"

"Please… Mr. Ayanokouji… Keep your daughter in check, sir, or else we'll get into even bigger trouble…!"


	4. Chapter 4: Chaos' emissary

**Chapter 4: Chaos' emissary**

14:54 PM (Japan Time), Saturday July the 29th…

"… Huff! Well. No greetings today?"

"Huh! You rascals! Wily – sama came! Salute!"

"_Oh_! Wily – sama! _It's magnificent_!"

"Cha rejected hairstyle is?"

"_What!_"

"Madoi…! Don't start trouble up."

"Trouble."

"As always."

"Tee, heh, heh."

"I feel some kind of _déjà vu_ by now…"

Dr. Wily stepped into Maha Ichiban's while grinning and rubbing his moustache with the right hand: the four members got into a row to greet: Hinoken saluted, Count Elec grinned, Madoi pulled a joke and Maha looked annoyed: the Navis sighed except for Colored Man who looked like he was having fun.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Everyone's most hated emissary of chaos has come through the Hades' Door! Its name… Hawsod Nam!"

"HUH?" The eight of them wondered.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…" Wily chuckled.

He sat on his usual table as Shadow Man emerged from Magic Man's shadow while on his pose.

"Beware! Reif! Cele! Gicam! Derlocor! Chaos has come!"

"Reif…!" Fire Man grumbled.

"Cele…!" Elec Man got a twitch over the right eye.

"Gicam…!" Magic Man was annoyed.

"Derlocor? What in the?" Colored Man gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… I brought someone along." Wily chuckled.

"So this is Maha Ichiban's?"

"Huh! Welcome, Mr. Customer."

"Dr. Wily. There you are."

"Sure, Rainon… I called you over since I knew you'd come to Japan… It's been… What, 15 years? Heh, heh, heh."

"Oh! An old acquaintance of Dr. Wily – sama?"

"Yes. Xavier Rainon…"

The newcomer, Xavier Rainon, looked on his late fifties or early sixties.

He had grayish hair and brown eyes irises.

He sported a black suit, necktie, pants and brown shoes.

He sat in front of Wily and Wily chuckled while he looked calm enough: Maha headed over to them.

"Maha Special?"

"Of course!"

"Correct."

"Well, well, well… Let's continue! Chaos! Hama Jamara!" Shadow Man joked.

"This one…!" He grumbled.

"Nohi Nichiken!"

"What'd ya say~?"

"Aroiya Doami!"

"HEY!"

"Cele Tounc!"

"_WHAT_!"

"Ya can't run away forever! Jack!"

"_ANIKI_!"

"Gauss Magnets, huh."

"Heh, heh, heh!"

Gauss Magnets suddenly stepped in while wielding his Link PET and grinning: Count Elec roared, Rainon lifted the right eyebrow and Wily chuckled

"Huh! Wily – sama! Why would Wily – sama be in such a shabby place?"

"You should've asked me 4 years ago, Gauss – kun."

"KI~H! Jack! You rascal! This is your handiwork!"

"_What_! You _bourbon drinker_!"

"Bourbon drinker! Me! Ki~h! Let's go, Magnet Man! Smash 'em!"

"Roger, Gauss – sama!"

"_Go_, Elec Man! _Beat them_!"

"Yes, Count Elec!"

"PLUG IN!"

Both aimed their PETs at each other and a miniature 3D arena formed in the in-between: the holograms of Elec Man and Magnet Man showed up there and both grumbled.

"This time I'll bury you! Ghost of the past!"

"Same motto over here! Bank-robber!"

"Gruh!" He grumbled.

"Oho. That of 5 years ago…"

"My company was hurt too." Rainon drily muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Sasug Gamtens!"

"E~H?"

"Sounds like a parody of "Samsung", alright." Maha grumbled.

"So. A _ronin_ came."

"KIH! Dark Miyabi!"

"Gauss Magnets. I haven't forgotten that of 4 years ago. It was a wound to my pride."

Dark Miyabi suddenly loomed over Gauss Magnets from behind while looking dull and unimpressed: Gauss turned around and gasped while Dark Miyabi made an announcement.

"The past is buried, you plebeians!"

"That includes me?" Wily asked.

"HUH! I mean… You skinny ex-staff!"

"That includes me."

"N-no, Wily – sama!"

"The boss is also part of the staff. It's always been like this." Wily reminded him.

"Kih! Go, Magnet Man! Quad Attack!"

"Lightning Flare~!"

"Fool. Lightning Rod! Quad Attack!"

Elec Man's attack was nullified by the lightning rod while Magnet Man glowed and formed three copies of himself colored blue, red/blue and blue/red: their respective colors began to shift and they all connected their hands as they formed a circle and began to spin clockwise at a mad speed: Elec Man narrowed his eyes and seemingly tried to keep track of which was the real one.

"Dr. Yoru improved Magnet Man by bounds and leaps! Hah!"

"Hum. Twilight. The dog." Miyabi grumbled.

"Hmpf… The fool… Asking for a new _sengoku_…"

"Huh!"

"Quad Attack!"

The four Magnet Men suddenly let go of each other and bounced on the invisible walls to ram into Elec Man from different angles and having different speeds: Elec Man groaned and managed to stand on his feet despite that as Magnet Man chuckled and they all lifted their right hand: red energy began to accumulate and gave way to an orb.

"N Ball!"

They all flung the orbs at Elec Man's ground and they suddenly drew a cage of red energy trapping him: several wires came outta the bars and attached to Elec Man: they began to glow with blue electricity and Elec Man roared.

"Mwah, hah, hah! The "N Balls" create a cage which will then shift the trapped Navi's electricity polarity to inflict utter pain! You lowlife have no chances to win! At all!" Magnet Man laughed.

"I wonder about that!" Elec Man hissed.

"Battle Chip, Bamboo Sword! Slot In!"

"Wha~t?" Gauss gasped.

"_Hah_! _Fool_! _Anikik!"_

"KI~H!"

"A Maha Special." Miyabi sat next to Wily and glanced at Maha.

"Roger!"

"Heh, heh, heh. So, step-brother… Did the _shogun_ ring?"

"Did you arrange for this?"

"It could be said so."

"Could be said so…! You're admitting your guilt, Shadow Man!"

"Yabimi – sama has Super Abilities!"

"GRJHTKXHTK!" He growled something undecipherable.

"Nelaus did warn me Shadow Man liked to stir up trouble."

"Heh, heh, heh… Let them show off their skills…"

"Hello! Good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon!"

"Oh! Welcome, young men… There's a table there… And don't mind those two… hum… gentlemen."

"Gauss Magnets!"

"THE Gauss Magnets?"

"HUH? Some kids? Hey! You! You're a companion of Hikari Netto!"

"Yeah. And I remember that you were the boss of "Gospel"…!"

"What's he doing here? I thought he'd been arrested."

Tooru happened to walk into the store along with Eboshi Shuuichi: Maha smiled at them and tried to have them ignore Count Elec and Gauss but Tooru gasped and Gauss recognized him.

"I suspect that he paid some bribes to get out two years ago." Tooru grumbled.

"The influence jam, so as to speak!" Wily chuckled.

"It's a pun on influence traffic." Rainon wasn't surprised.

"Hmpf…" Miyabi grumbled.

"Huh… Shuuichi – kun… Let's ignore them and have a meal."

"Eh… OK, Tooru – kun…"

Both sat on a free table and Maha walked over to them while Elec Man cut through the cage and then hit one of the Magnet Men with the Bamboo Sword: he cut it in half and it got deleted.

"Probabilities of hitting the correct one… 1 in 3… 33%..."

"_Go_, Elec Man! _Blow them_!"

"Ki~h! Prove the power of the Dark Side, Magnet Man!"

"Dark Generator: Activate."

"Damn it. Not that again." Shadow Man cursed.

"Trouble… Desu." Ice Man gasped.

"Trouble sure is. That thing drove Netto – kun and Rock Man to the very edge two years ago and did the same one year ago… It's nothing to be looked down upon. I'm sure Twilight has been able to improve it as well, too… Things start looking dire… As if those UFOs weren't enough…"

"Two down!"

"Hah! But that's as far as you come, fool! Dark Slam!"

"Ugrah! Each depletes 25% of my HP!"

"_Aniki~! You cheater_!"

"Ho, ho, ho, ho! A gentleman here has the sympathy of the mighty Dr. Yoru – sama~!" Gauss laughed.

"The Maha Specials. Gauss Magnets… Drown in your foolishness." Maha brought them to the teens and then glared at Gauss.

"Wha~t? This _yoga_ master wannabe!"

"I _was_ a _yoga_ master. 5 years ago. I had high audience ratings. But I left it behind: we do not get attached to immaterial things." He calmly replied while walking back towards the kitchen.

"Ki~h! How frustrating!"

"Recovery 300, Slot In! Black Hole, Slot In!"

"E~H?"

"What!"

"Hah!"

Elec Man formed the Black Hole and it sucked the remaining copy inside: Elec Man then struck the right cheek of Magnet Man with the Bamboo Sword to form a wound there: Magnet Man growled and began to glow with a purplish glow.

"Be buried, Elec Man! Dark Bang!"

"Bug Bomb, Slot In! _Eat this_!"

"Impossible! Where did you get such Chips?"

"Hah! The local store, you _moron_!"

"KI~H!"

"Higureya, huh."

"The owner was weird."

"Weird isn't enough to describe Higure – san. More like unique."

Gauss gasped and seemed to be unable to figure out how Count Elec got his Battle Chips but he grinned: Eboshi looked slightly nervous at the mention of Higure and Tooru rolled his eyes.

"Let's just eat or it'll get cold."

"Sure."

While Magnet Man formed a purplish spheroid, Elec Man jumped and flung the Bug Bomb at Magnet Man thus hitting him and momentarily paralyzing him: he growled but Elec Man hit the spheroid with the Bamboo Sword and it imploded: the shockwave pushed Magnet Man back and Elec Man left a "Z" cut on the chest.

"KI~H! Playing _El Zorro_, huh?"

"Hah! _Aniki Go Home_!"

"KI~H! This disgraced brother of mine!"

"HAH! Patent it for a parody film! _Aniki VS Disgraced Brother_! Only in SILLY theaters! Hah!" Count Elec taunted back.

"Wha~t?"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…"Wily chuckled.

"Hum." Rainon wasn't surprised.

"Please…" Miyabi was annoyed by now.

"Damn you~!" Magnet Man growled.

"Heh, heh, heh… How is it?" Freeze Man's voice echoed.

"Popsicle Man showed up." Shadow Man grumbled.

"Hmpf… Then I'll make you eat popsicles for supper…" Freeze Man taunted back.

"O~h! Freeze Man – dono!"

"Fight! Prove our might!"

"Roger, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Remember me, Freeze Man?"

"Dr. Wily… Well. Not like I should. We never met."

"Ah. My bad, my bad… One's memory… Heh, heh, heh…"

"You damned mercenary lapdog… One day I'll bury you beneath the glaciers of Siberia…"

"Hmpf… Come anytime, ghost of the past…"

"The Ghouls are coming…"

"To steal our Rare Chips?" Tooru joked.

"Huh? What?"

"Ask Cloud Man."

"Cloud Man! What does this mean?"

"Huh! Well… It's in _Yu-Gi-Oh_… A gang named "Ghouls" or "Rare Hunters" go around stealing people's Rare Cards…"

"Hmpf… So it's an irony… Fine… I'll let it slip since your Navi is also Ice-Elemental… Maybe one day he'll overcome me?"

"No way! Desu!"

"Hmpf… Fine… One day you'll realize it, young one… The Dark Side's beckoning call…"

"How scary." Eboshi drily muttered.

"Truly." Tooru grumbled.

"Dark Punches!"

"Ugrk! Gruk!"

"Die!"

"Wrong! The last resource! Great Explosion!"

"Wha~t? Gruo~h!"

Elec Man glowed and released energy: the shockwave hit Magnet Man while he was still close to Elec Man (because he'd delivered two punch attacks earlier) and he got propelled backwards: he hit the invisible wall and was forcibly retrieved while the same happened to Elec Man: the showdown ended there.

"KI~H! Magnet Man!"

"Hah! _Eat this_! _Deposed aniki_!"

"KI~H! I'll strangle you yet, Jack!"

"That's enough."

A _kunai_ flew across the air, stabbed Gauss' hat and it flew until the wall where it got stuck: Gauss turned white and Miyabi loomed over him with a glare which could kill.

"Get ready."

"Hmpf…"

The lights suddenly went out and by the time they came back on (which only took a few seconds) Gauss had run off given how the door was still open and his hurried footsteps could be heard: Miyabi shrugged and picked back the _kunai_ while examining the hat: he spotted something and seemed interested.

"What's with _silly aniki_'s hat?" Count Elec asked.

"The maker…"

"Maker?"

"Smith & Wesson Inc., Australian, Melbourne… Sold at AUD 45.99…"

"Hah! What a silly hat." Count Elec laughed.

"Hum. But this seems to have been bought in Australia, yet… The "Committee" was monitoring the guy… Twilight is giving him a hand using "Dimensional Converters" to let him move there and there unnoticed. The dog…!"

"Count Elec. A transmission, sir!"

"Who?"

"Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho! I knew it! Father underestimated Uncle. But I'm a wholly different tale!"

"Uo~h! _Silly aniki'_s daughter, Tesla, my niece!"

"Gauss had a daughter?" Tooru was baffled.

"So it'd seem." Eboshi was surprised, too.

Tesla Magnets showed up onscreen, laughing and suddenly pointing her right index finger at Count Elec.

"Uncle! Next time around I'll beat ya!"

"_What_! _Aniki_'s proxy!"

"Proxy? Me? Wrong, Uncle! It's my will and only my will! The will of a _lady_ who isn't even 30 yet!"

"Please. I can see that you aren't that young from miles away." Madoi fumed as she peeked over Count Elec's right shoulder.

"Ki~h! This skinny woman whom Father hired 5 years ago!"

"Skinny? More like tough." She taunted back.

"Oh yeah. I remember that. Gauss hired her to learn more about Wily. But she didn't like it and quit."

"Learn more about me, huh? Guess Gauss – kun's "Wily Mania" has always been pretty strong…"

"By the way… According to Kuroshiro's records… Tesla Magnets V2 used an agent to retrieve items of the "Wily Collection" but they were pretty weird stuff. A frame, a coin, a statuette, a feather, a papyrus…" Miyabi sat back next to Wily.

"What? Guess I owned those from somewhere but I dunno how they'd end up in museums… Maybe I wanted to get some money…"

"Could be." Rainon wasn't surprised.

"Auppp!"

"Uwo~h! YOU AGAIN!" Hinoken yelled from the kitchen.

"Rush."

"The dog-shaped Virus you told me about, Tooru – kun…?"

"Yeah… The same one… Guess Hinoken remembers how he told us about their plot."

"That of Wily Chip…"

"Hum. Guess he isn't eatable." Madoi drily joked.

"Grrru~h!" He got annoyed.

"…sure-kill combo which…!" Tesla was still bragging.

"_Bring it on_!"

"Not now! I gotta wait 'till Magnet Man recovers! But I won't set my feet in such an undignified hut!"

"Undignified hut? That's a first." Shadow Man chuckled.

"Don't give her ideas. It gets worse. According to Kuroshiro, that is…"

"Such as?" Rainon calmly asked.

"A month-long countdown party before her birthday..." Miyabi whispered.

"It must've been horrible for the morale."

"So it'd seem. The 4 pawns were driven to the edge because they had to buy her a present each day." He explained.

"Spoiled children…" He shrugged.

"Sounds worse than Yaito – chan, even." Tooru grimly muttered.

"Yikes." Eboshi gulped.

"Trouble… Desu…"

"DE MASU~! There was a Super Ultra Rare Chip here named "Ra's Egg", right, de masu? Who had it? I MUST see it! De masu!"

Higure ran in all of a sudden and everyone seemed to frown: Number Man sighed and grumbled something undecipherable.

"Who told you that? Higure – san." Tooru asked.

"Oh! Tooru – kun, de masu. Well. Someone named Darth Bapgei…"

"That was a troll."

"E~H! A troll as in THE terrific evil terrible TROLL?"

"No~… As in a prankster!"

"Ah! The plankster!"

"PRANKSTER! NOT PLANKSTER!" Tooru got annoyed.

"YAMITAROU~! The store's burning!"

"UWA~H! MY STORE~! MY LIFE~! MASU~!"

"Nelaus was right. This is the craziest city ever."

"And, also… "Ra's Egg"… Sounds like a joke based on the Sphere Mode of "The Winged God-Dragon of Ra"… That Darth Bapgei, Nelaus – kun's rival, seems to be fond of puns when not in battle…" Tooru sighed in defeat and dropped his head into the table, even.

"Sure is…" Eboshi sighed.

"Yo! Tooru! Shuuichi! Today I'm gonna beat "AR Lord", the strongest Net Battler, and become the champion of Akihara Town!" Dekao rushed in.

"That was a joke by the enemy. Go help put out the fire."

"Eh! The fire! Where!"

"In Higureya, according to Number Man…"

"Wa~h! I can't let Higureya burn! I need more Guts Punches!"

"Guts, guts! Hurry it up, Dekao~!"

"One after the other…! I'm fed up." Miyabi violently stood up.

"No wonder." Rainon sighed.

"Even your businessman patience is being trimmed off, huh?"

"Sure thing… I've had to deal with stupid projects and badly executed calculations plus road accidents and all but… This is too much. I guess I should be going back to Chicago soon after I drop to have a chat with Nelaus and his girlfriend…"

"I'm off. You two… Don't lower the guard. And be quiet, Shadow Man."

"Fine… I don't feel in the mood anymore… Knowing we'll have to tackle that damned thing again…"

Miyabi left the store after paying: Tooru and Eboshi finished their meals and paid so they departed: Count Elec came out of the storeroom, sighing.

"Phew. I managed to get her to cut off saying there was someone peeking from the door. I've blacklisted the number, too…"

"Man. What a niece." Hinoken muttered.

"Her makeup is as ugly as Madonna's." Madoi muttered.

"Sure thing, sure thing… I'll agree with you on that one, Madoi. My family has to be the weirdest in the world to begin with!" He sat on one stool and leant on the counter.

"Do not be defeated by such a weak one, Count Elec." Maha tried to encourage him.

"_But_! Maha! That's easier said than done."

"Hrum. Maybe it's about time I go pick stray souls…" Wily rubbed his moustache and grinned.

"You mean empty cans." Rainon didn't find it funny.

"Heh, heh, heh… Maha Jarama! The bill!"

"Roger, Wily – sama."

"Please bring my bill as well."

"Understood, Mr. Rainon."

Both men paid and nodded at each other before leaving in different ways each one: Rush ran out of the kitchen and sat on one stool to start spinning it clockwise to have fun: nevertheless the mood seemed to have gone down.

"Huh… Guys? Who is "DB" and why does he write "bad luck"?" Fire Man asked the others.

"Dunno, Fire Man…" Elec Man admitted.

"Guess it's a troll… Jeez." Colored Man sighed.

"What a catastrophe!" Magic Man exclaimed.

"Auppp!"


	5. Chapter 5: UFO's Appearance!

**Chapter 5: UFO's Appearance!**

06:56 AM (Mongolia Time), Monday July the 31st…

"…thus the referee should've shown 'em a red card!"

"Man. That was unfair! Kicking the ball through the gap in the other player's legs…"

"Jeez."

"Say… Doesn't the air vibrate?"

"I feel a _déjà vu_, even!"

"No way…"

"I'm serious!"

"Mugru~h! Me! Great! Evil! God! Zorc! Me! Destroy!"

"What the hell?"

"What's THAT?"

"An UFO!"

"Run!"

"Kya~h!"

"Run! No use! You! Rats!"

Several Navis had been chatting or going up and down in an Internet City located in Mongolia when the air rumbled and a gigantic UFO (identical to the one Nebula had used years ago) showed up at the same time an echoing voice rang out: a whirlwind formed and began to suck in Navis and data at a quick speed: most of the Navis managed to Plug-Out while the voice laughed.

"Me! Rule! Earth! Me! Destroy! Fools!"

"We wonder about that."

"Huh? Someone! Dares! To! Oppose! Me!"

"Let's go!"

Blues, Search Man, Thunder Man and Prism Man showed up atop a skyscraper very close to the SW edge of the UFO and they jumped towards it while drawing copies of Omega's saber.

"Omega updated these to allow for hi-frequency mode! It can cut through concrete and steel! And it'll cut through the armor of this thing! We'll get inside, find the core and blow it up!" Blues commanded.

"I'll analyze the route." Search Man announced.

"I'll be decoy for the small fry." Thunder Man whispered.

"I'll cover the back."

"Good!"

They landed atop that section and they quickly formed a rectangular pattern with the swords which easily cut through the thickness of the outer hull: they all stomped into it and it fell down inside of the empty corridor: pipes glowing with a red glow and apparently transporting data filled the whole height of the walls.

"I see. The core sucks them up and then compresses it to send it to the servers… If we blow the core up this thing will stop moving and we can capture the servers to save the compressed Navis." Blues announced.

"That's our goal, Blues." Enzan reminded him.

"Search Man! Begin tactical reconnaissance." Laika commanded.

"Roger, Laika – sama."

"Thunder Man! Don't hit those pipes."

"Ou!"

"Prism Man! You know what to do."

"Roger, Detective Misaki."

"Go!"

They rushed down the corridor and soon found a legion of Spark Bees ready to oppose them: Blues smirked and drew two Bamboo Swords before jumping into the air and cutting through it while spinning upon his axis: he cut through all of them and landed on the ground: the group kept on forward and reached a crossroad where there were a pair of doors to the left.

"HF Blades!"

"Roger!"

They cut the doors to pieces and found 4 Dream Viruses waiting for them: they shot their lasers but the group dodged.

"Neo Variable Sword!"

"Satellite Ray!"

"Lion Thunder!"

"Battle Chip, Prism! Hah!"

Blues' Sonic Boom cut off the waist of a Dream Virus: the Satellite Ray shot through another's head from behind, the Lion Thunder impacted the chest the of the third thus paralyzing it and, lastly, the attack of Prism Man rained down on several spots of the fourth Dream Virus, overwhelming it and making it collapse: the group ran past the enemies before they could recover.

"That was the welcome committee?" Enzan wondered.

"We'd rather used a permanent snowstorm." Laika grinned.

"Don't give 'em ideas." Raoul grumbled.

"It's the last thing we need!"

They spotted light further ahead and reached the core area: there was a red spheroid some tens of meters wide and tall hovering over the opening from which the streams of compressed data came in: several pipes came out of it and circled the walls of the room before merging with even bigger pipes and heading elsewhere in the UFO.

"This is it! Let's go, guys! Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In! Dream Sword!"

"Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!"

"Elec Pulse! Triple Slot In! Destroy Pulse!"

"Count Bomb, Triple Slot in! Giga Count Bomb!"

"Go!"

The 4 Program Advances hit the core and it frizzled while emitting bursts of static and "noise": it finally hummed with a decreasing hum and quickly lost color: all the surroundings became black and white and still as if to indicate that all activity was frozen.

"Good. We stopped it. Search Man?" Laika muttered.

"Yes, sir. I have the coordinates of the servers."

"Good. Retrieval squad: in!"

"There are 4 servers. The pipes have an emergency power supply to finish supplying the data. Use it to complete the download and then retrieve the data with care." Search Man instructed over the radio.

"Roger!"

"Legally… The Mongolia Government wanted us to help protect their capital city's Internet City in case of an attack… So if Choina wants to complain they should complain to the Mongolia Government because we came called by them…" Misaki muttered.

"They must hope to exploit some legal loophole."

"Sure thing. Well. What next?" Enzan asked.

"Auppp!"

"Whoa! Rush! He showed up behind me in my IPC office!"

"He must like the Cuban aroma of your coffee, Enzan." Laika joked.

"Heh! Cuban coffee? I have a pal who loves it, yeah." Raoul grinned.

"At least it's not Shadow Coffee." Misaki chuckled.

"Shadow Coffee~?"

"Auppp?"

"It is normal coffee… But they add cacao to it." Misaki explained.

"Cacao in the coffee…? I suspect Dragon Hell…" Enzan muttered.

"And his Hellish Dragonish Breath." Laika joked next.

"Jeez."

"Auppp… Ap!"

"Hey! Don't pick my notebook!" Enzan told Rush.

"Aup! Appp! Apu!"

"What? "Uncle Sigma says you eat half-shoes. True?"… When did you learn to write things down, anyway? Well. It ain't true. It's another silly pun by the guy. Go tell him he's fired. Find him in Netto's PET."

"Aup!"

"Guess Rush will become the Local IPC _Pet_." Laika joked.

"Heh! That wouldn't be bad." Raoul laughed.

"Well…" Misaki seemed to doubt.

"Jeez. Laika. Remember that we've got that chess game to tackle this evening at 19:00! Be punctual! I won't lose!"

"Call for that King Man fellow and Aragoma Torakichi."

"I dunno where they are and I never met them anyway! Huff!"

"Huff! The new brand of deodorants for the armpits!"

"Mwha, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!" Raoul exploded into laughter.

"Oh come on…" Misaki sighed.

_What a club_!

18:57 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Enzan. Laika hasn't come yet?"

"He'll bring the snowstorm 'long?"

"Heh. Guess that. He must be trying to find his chess cheat codes."

"Enzan – sama…!"

"Sigma and Blood went to compete, as usual."

"So we'll have _all the time in the world_."

"Isn't that a James Bond song?"

"Yessir."

Netto and Saito came to visit Enzan at his apartment and they exchanged some jokes as they took off their shoes and picked the slippers to walk inside: Blues looked somewhat exasperated.

"By the way… Do you know a Navi named King Man?"

"King Man…? Oh yeah. We crossed paths once during the "Gospel" campaign… He was strong, yeah… Shadow Man got in the way towards the end but we won nevertheless…" Netto recalled.

"He was a famous Net Chess champion… I wonder if he still is or if he's already retired, though…"

"Blues. You can materialize already. Go check."

"Roger, Enzan – sama."

Blues materialized and saluted before walking off to somewhere else in the apartment: the three of them sat around a table where a jar of cold water had been placed: Enzan served some into the cups and they all drank some.

"Ah… Some good water… Feels good in the summer…" Netto sighed in relief.

"August is almost upon us, too."

PRRRO~NG!

"What was that? The entrance bell?" Netto wondered.

"No way. It didn't ring like that when we came." Saito frowned.

"Laika's lame humor." Enzan sighed.

He headed over to the door and opened it: Laika was there and grinning as he held the PET in the right hand: Search Man's hologram displayed exasperation.

"Did you like my gong?"

"Very genuine." He drily replied.

"As expected of you, Enzan. I guess the Goddess of Chess is your ally."

"Jeez. Just get in already, Mr. Snowstorm."

"Oh my. I've earned a new local title. I guess I'll get a bonus in my stats like in _Tales of Symphonia_."

"Huff. Just move it, Mr. Ivan!"

"Delighted. Mr. Kondo."

Laika got in and placed his coat into the perch before putting on the slippers and entering the living room.

"Well. The snowstorm came with the 19:05 PM express from Snowstorm Land." Saito laughed.

"That joke's outdated, niisan…" Netto groaned.

"I wonder 'bout that, Netto – kun."

"So! Here it is."

Laika fumbled in his pants' right pocket and drew the "King" piece of chess (the black one) which he placed atop the table: he then let it fall into it face-up and spun it upon its axis.

"King Roulette."

"Laika – sama?"

"Go see if Blues changed the sheets."

"… Roger." He didn't seem to like the joke.

Search Man materialized and disengaged his built-in Scope Gun to then head to another spot of the apartment: Saito grinned and looked at how the piece lost rotation speed.

"I don't count, I know. But I wanna see who is gonna be the king tonight: each one has different ways of setting the pace." He giggled.

"Of course. Else it'd be mundane. Right, Mr. Adored by Viruses?"

"Jeez."

The piece stopped and signaled Netto who shrugged and stood up to then head elsewhere while humming a tune: he suddenly stopped and glanced backwards to see Laika and Enzan getting into a discussion yet lowering their voices: Saito had left the room too.

"…rigged it and my style…!" Enzan was arguing.

"…style and whatever, the piece…!"

"Oi. I'm gonna lock ya out." Netto challenged.

"HUH?"

"Catch me, _fukukaichou _– sama~! _Heishi_ – sama~! Be~h!"

Netto laughed and ran down a corridor while the other two seemed to do the same a few seconds later: Netto opened a bedroom door and hid outside using the door to cover it: both Enzan and Laika rushed inside and Netto closed the door while locking it with the key from the outside: he giggled under his breath.

_Those two are like elementary students, even, niisan! They quarrel over a lost bet!_

_Heh. When it comes to this… These two over here are already pretty if not totally exasperated… _

"OI, NETTO~!" Both began to bang the door from the inside.

"There's no Netto! Only Ontet – sama!"

"JEEZ!"

"Sorry! But tonight I settle the rules! There's just one: raw!"

"RAW?" Both grumbled.

"Or are you admitting that you've got sadistic manias?"

"HUH! NO!"

"Jeez. I know I'm pretty much a masochist by now but I wanna have a break from time to time. S&M feels like it's forced. Raw is more natural and there's no instinct of being on charge. Get my points? Or do I need to shower you with cold water?" He sighed.

"Well…"

"Huff. I'm going to wait in the kitchen until ya can act like adults and not like spoiled kids! See!"

"OI!"

Netto headed back into the kitchen: he sat down into one chair while drawing his PET and interacting with its screen.

"Jeez. What a duo. The "friendly" S&M thing is when niisan and I have a threesome with Tooru – kun… I want to experience the raw thing 'cause it's more real… Those two seem to think I have no spirit to refuse or to suggest something else…"

_Well. At least Blues and Search Man here always liked it raw. We're about to start._

_Well. Have fun. I don't envy you or anything, niisan. It's just that Enzan and Laika can be somewhat stubborn from time to time._

_Given how they seem to need to counter each other…_

_I know._

"Oi! Netto!"

"Jeez. I hope you've reached a decision."

Netto headed back into the corridor and stopped to the right of the locked door.

"Alright, you were right! We'll do it raw!"

"We promise!"

"Once I enter step back ten steps. I'll pick the bag and entrust it to Saito – niisan to ensure fair play. And by raw I mean raw. No dildos, no vibrators, no clothes pegs."

"We know…!" They grumbled.

"Vent off the bad mood. This is a test of your maturity."

Netto glued his right ear to the door and waited: he heard some steps and then he unlocked the door while turning on the lights: Enzan and Laika were looking away from each other and looked both annoyed and ashamed: Netto ignored them, opened the cupboard, picked a sports bag and came out.

"Wait there."

He headed for the other spot of the apartment and left the bag in front of a room: the door partly opened and Saito (only on his boxers and socks) partly came out to pick it: he glanced at Netto and he nodded in agreement as Saito closed the door and locked it from the inside: Netto sighed and headed back into the bedroom while closing the door behind him and locking it up.

"Alright. Let's begin or it'll become 9 o'clock by the time we do it."

"That's why…" Enzan began.

"You should've accepted it." Laika grumbled.

"Look who talks!"

"ENOUGH!"

Netto actually snapped at them so they gulped and stepped back while he fumed and seemed to be discharging his increasing frustration: both blushed and looked elsewhere.

"I'm in charge tonight. The roulette was fair. End of the tale. If you do it in that ill-humored manner… There's no point to it. Why? Because you won't be enjoying it." Netto told them.

"Huh! That's… Well…" They trailed off.

"Guess you need a teaser." Netto smirked.

He opened his vest and tossed it into a chair before lifting his shirt and taking it out: he leant both hands on both sides of his torso and stood there while grinning: both blushed and seemed to be taken in by the sight of his chest.

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm going to reward ya two with my _strip-tease_."

"Whoa."

"I'm 16, ya know! I gotta prove my body's reached its peak of horniness!"

"Peak of horniness…" Both didn't seem to find the joke funny.

"I'm gonna patent it, ya know. Heh, heh, heh."

"Sure, sure."

"Next!"

"Whoa!"

Netto lowered his shorts and placed them on the chair too: he sat on the edge of the bed and took out his socks as well: he stood up and grinned as he looked at Enzan and Laika.

"There's one condition!"

"What?" They eagerly asked.

"Strip down to the boxers and I'll then have a sneak peek."

"Good!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

_I laid out the bait and they bit it…_

Both Enzan and Laika undressed and remained on their boxers so Netto walked over to them and suddenly gripped their balls from below: both groaned and Netto grinned.

"Heh, heh, heh. The tuna and the eel got reeled in."

"Wha~t?" They grumbled.

"Kajiki Ryouta taught me well."

"Who?"

"Ask No One In Particular AKA Shadow Man."

"Shadow Man…! Messing around, as always…!"

Netto then noticed how their cocks had gotten hard so he began to rub them from outside the boxers: both groaned and Netto grinned again as he suddenly stopped.

"I'm teasing ya~…"

"T-this guy…!"

"Ya could be twins!"

"Huh! That's…!"

"Laika!"

"Enzan!"

"Stop meddling around!" Both shouted at the same time.

"Huff. If you keep it like this I'll go join niisan and try out doing it with Blues and Search Man. At least they don't fight each other."

"Huh! Don't!"

"Then will you stop rivaling each other? It looks like Twilight sent Eris to stir up a new Troy war… Over me!" Netto fumed.

"Huh! Well… Yeah. You're right."

"Let's start. Enzan! You're middle. Laika: front. Me: rear."

"Lovely." Enzan grumbled.

"Too bad, Enzan…" Laika smirked.

The three of them finally removed their boxers and climbed into the bed: Enzan grumbled and got into his fours so Netto sat on his knees behind him and Laika in front of him.

"Let's go."

Netto stuffed his cock into Enzan from behind and then Enzan began to suck Laika's cock: Netto grinned and used his right hand to rub Enzan's cock at the same time.

"We'll just go on by changing."

"So I'm next?"

"Yeah. And then I'll be last."

"Heh. I'll tease you slowly, Enzan." Laika told him.

Enzan muttered something under his breath.

"So! When I go last… You can take turns shifting front and rear!"

"I like that. I guess VP – sama also does. Here goes!"

"Yeah… Here goes too!"

Both released at the same time: they pulled back as Enzan sat on the bed and swallowed before grinning at Laika who shrugged and got into pose: Enzan stuffed his cock into his mouth while Netto slid it inside of his ass: they continued.

"By the way, Enzan… Don't go too hard on Laika, OK?"

"Fine."

"It's a warning. Not a suggestion."

"Huh! OK, OK!"

"Alright. I think he's about to go."

"Heh. I feel like it too."

Both released so Laika got back to the original pose and Netto got to his fours: Enzan got into the rear while Laika into the front: both began to move and Netto merely followed the pace.

"So! Mr. Perfect. About to patent the Anti Gabcom Mower?" Laika asked Enzan with a grin.

"Please…"

"The Pretty Please Mower, then."

"Stop with the mower jokes or I'll tell Sigma to make one go berserk and rush across your base!" He grumbled.

"Interesting challenge. I'll risk it."

"Huff. Mr. Snowstorm's sarcasm…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. By the way: do you think our Navis do it like this?"

"Surely…"

"But they have more patience than us, too. Guess it's an irony."

"Guess it's because they were programmed to be like that."

"Sure thing. Search Man waited and was able to beat Shadow Man 4 years ago… And Blues waited until Magnet Man crept close enough to smash his stealth camouflage, too…"

"Enough of the past. Focus on the present."

"Sure. Let's call Present."

"The Rama member…? We never got to figure his ID. But the guy was creepy enough: I mean Axe Man, the Navi…"

"Yeah… Anyway… Off we go!"

"Let's go!"

Both released and swapped places but before that they paused to give Netto some seconds to rest.

"Heh. Well, well, well. It'd seem you still didn't get the lesson. Maybe ya need some Ugly Coffee."

"Ugly Coffee? What does it have this time around? Tea?" Enzan looked horrified.

"Nope! Nuts!"

"Nuts…! In the coffee…! That Dragon Hell guy…!"

"Oho. This'll become popular in the base: I can see it coming!"

"Please… The last thing we need is anyone bringing ideas to the guy…!"

"And even less to Sigma… Or else Omega will get pissed off…"

"Well then! Should we finish it up?"

"Sure. It's almost 9 PM and I want to be back at home in time to have supper: I never miss Mama's meatball spaghetti." Netto glanced at an alarm clock on the right desk.

"OK!"

They swapped positions and resumed their play: Enzan began to speed up and so did Laika as they glared at each other and it looked like they wanted to compete.

"Go!"

They went off and panted while pulling out: Netto merely grinned and suddenly rubbed their jaws.

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh well. I'll leave it at here for today. Next time we'll be raw too… You need to control those instincts!"

"Jeez." Both sighed and rolled their eyes.

_I'm a genius, yeah, ya two… Ya know it'll do ya good! Heh, heh, heh!_


	6. Chapter 6: Approaches

**Chapter 6: Approaches**

07:07 AM (Qatar Time), Wednesday August the 2nd…

"… Heh, heh, heh… Twilight – sama… Things are normal yet…"

"I predict they'll show up in 3 minutes!"

"Swallow Man, Cloud Man… Make sure to hide your presence…"

"Ou!"

"Gate Man!"

"Legion 64 deployed and ready to film from the skies…"

"Cosmo Man."

"Yes, sir…! I'm in position as well. Let us see their humiliation."

"Good… Freeze Man: remain here with me…"

"As you order…"

"So. Those guys are back for more, Master?"

"Heh! The "DCs" belong to ME and only ME… I'll let the Net Saviors teach that to that horde of fools…!"

The holograms of Cloud Man, Swallow Man and Cosmo Man were standing atop some skyscrapers in another Internet City: one had the Qatar flag so it indicated where it was located at: Gate Man was standing atop another and managing several screens: several pairs of Mettools equipped with jet-packs were flying across the air in different pathways: each had a red number painted on the hardhat's front.

"Massive data cluster upload detected… Coming." Gate Man reported.

"Energy core signature increasing…" Cosmo Man added.

"I can start to see the main shell forming…" Cloud Man grinned.

"Hmpf! It's no toy." Swallow Man shrugged.

"Good, good… Let them come!"

"Here it is!"

The UFO showed up in the air and began to suck up data but there were no Navis anywhere in sight save for Gate Man (the others weren't material so they didn't count) and some muttering could be heard echoing in the air as if the controllers of the UFO had forgotten to switch off their mikes: Cosmo Man, Cloud Man and Swallow Man grinned.

"Let's go! Pentagon Team!"

"Ou!"

"They came. The Subspace. Rock Man. Isaac."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Good ol' Isaac's arsenal will beat those lame Dream Viruses…"

The "Neo Gospel" members (save Gate Man who technically wasn't) looked on at how Sigma, Omega, Blood Shadow, Rock Man and Isaac dropped down from the sky and landed atop the central area of the UFO: they drew the sabers and quickly cut five holes in: some of the Mettools followed them.

"Show me the show." Twilight laughed.

"That was too redundant…" Bapgei grumbled.

Gate Man opened a screen to see how the 5 Navis were facing off against the Dream Viruses: Sigma rammed into one with the right shoulder and made it hit the wall where it got stuck: Blood Shadow leapt into the air and shot through the chest: Omega simply swung his sword to cut off the legs and Rock Man cut off the head: Isaac grinned.

"Sonic Fists!"

Isaac formed two detached fists which shot forward at a mad speed while building up a Sonic Boom on their front: both hit the Dream Virus and the Sonic Booms inflicted two cuts on the body.

"Not enough? There's more!"

"More Man!" Sigma laughed.

"Sigma…!" Omega icily hissed.

"Yikes!"

"MOVE IT!"

"R-roger, sir!"

"Jeez." The other two sighed.

"Energy Dance!"

Isaac began to dance upon his axis as curved climbing swirls of golden energy began to surround him and then formed the shape of a DNA sequence: a golden-colored Dream Virus formed there and suddenly warped to drop atop the Dream Virus he was facing and trap it beneath its weight.

"It's incapable of attacking but it can bounce off the others' attacks and destroy them."

"Let's go. The core is right ahead."

"Luckily… Davis and Lander had managed to infiltrate all kinds of malware in the Choina hacker squad servers… And thus we can overhear their chit-chat… Dragon – san helped by being interpreter… They talked about Qatar and today's day so it was obvious they were coming. When we began to detect the power spikes we issued a general Plug-Out command." Rock Man commented as they ran up the corridor.

"Yeah. This will make them think it twice." Omega nodded.

"The signature is about 15 meters ahead." Blood Shadow reported.

"I'll handle the locked doors!" Sigma announced.

"Good!" Isaac nodded in agreement.

They reached the end of the corridor and found two large locked doors: Sigma dropped the sword and made his fists glow with flames as he began to violently punch them and melt metal on touch.

"Plasma Punches: a new weapon… It's the first live test!"

"Wow." Isaac and Rock Man whistled.

"The enemies won't be so easy to be this time around. It calls for new weapons." Blood Shadow told them.

"…muttering and whispering of the evil foes of the Defenders of Saint Universal Mistiness and…" Dragon Hell began to mutter.

"That wasn't ME." Sigma defended himself.

"Then, who?" Omega frowned.

"… Gate Man." Isaac grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh… Did you miss me?" Gate Man's voice taunted.

"Not really. I missed your Mister Gate perfume."

"Mister Gate? Heh, heh, heh."

"Door's busted!" Sigma reported.

Indeed: he'd managed to break through them to form an opening tall enough even for him to cross: the group rushed into the core area and found several TIEs waiting there.

"TIEs, eh? Like the "Bifrosts" which Dark Land had some months ago: but these surely are slower." Omega muttered.

"Let's pick them off and stop the core with the hacking program. I'll be decoy!" Rock Man announced.

"Soul Unison: Omega Soul! Slot In!" Netto announced.

Several streams of crimson light jumped off from his chest emblem before crimson energy encompassed his body and seemed to form a new layer over its frame: a dome of transpired reddish energy formed around Rock Man.

"Comin'…" Sigma grinned.

"Make me feel prideful…" Omega grinned.

"Let's smash them. I'll lure them east." Blood Shadow announced.

"Then I lure 'em west."

"Soul Unison: Omega Soul" Rock Man had gained a wholly new layer of armor over his body.

His helmet got Omega's helmet overlapped with his but the ear-pads remained unchanged: the inverted pyramidal jewel on the forehead was replaced by an eight-spoke emerald and a golden line with silver edges spanned across the length of the helmet from behind the jewel to the lower rear edge of the helmet.

His shoulder-plates became vermillion and gained white circuitry patterns over them: his arms' skin became black and his forearms' armor got a new crimson layer with a golden bracelet close to the wrist: the fingers were colored black by now.

The chest got Omega's vest over it and it included the "Omega" symbol colored in white color on both sides of it: a hole had been cut on the center to expose his chest emblem.

His waist got that curious "V" piece of armor on it which formed that cavity in the front and the rear of it.

The legs became black and unadorned and the boots also got that crimson armor with a golden bracelet slightly beneath the start of them: the soils got thicker and were colored in metallic black color.

A large flock of blonde hair formed behind the helmet and reached all the way to the floor.

He lastly got the O – Saber on his right hand colored in a bright emerald color plus the holster for it over his right hip.

"Good! Let's go for it! Hra~h!"

Rock Man built up energy around his body and shot towards the core while swinging the O – Saber and cutting up 3 of them: he landed atop the core and plunged the saber into it so it hummed and quickly began to stop working altogether: more gaps rang out.

"Dragon! Translate! Now!" Vadous commanded over the radio.

"Yikes! Huh… Please give me a few seconds…!"

"Fine."

"Huh… "Did you see that?"… "Man. We're outta our league."… "General Ming will be pissed off. For sure."… "That goes without sayin'…"…"

"General Ming?" Rock Man wondered.

"I've heard that name somewhere before." Omega frowned.

"I remember, sir. Some months ago… A Choina agent was trying to collect info on Rock Man, sir… And they were sent by some General Ming… We reported it to the Party Secretary and we thought he'd been scolded and demoted… Maybe they sent him to watch some lesser prison where there were some hackers and he got an idea to get back to glory… Use them to "create a new weapon for the motherland and rule the world"… Doesn't it make sense, sir?" Blood Shadow detailed.

"Aha-hah. I see." Vadous calmly muttered.

"… Please wait a minute, Boss… This dialect… Beijing dialect… Maybe it's the General in person, Boss…" Dragon whispered.

"Good. They can't hear our radio frequency. Go on translating."

"Roger… "What's the status like?"… "G-General, sir…! We've got trouble, sir…"… "Impossible. Those UFOs are invincible."…"

"Invincible, huh?" Omega mocked.

"… "Do look, sir… The other day… Those Japan Net Saviors in Mongolia stopped one… And today some other Net Saviors and some extra Navis stopped another, sir…"…"

"He must be about to explode like C4." Vadous calmly muttered.

There were some roars on the control room and Dragon sighed.

"Indeed, sir… "WHAT? WHY WASN'T I TOLD OF THAT?"… "Sir! You never established any direct communication between you and we, sir, and the soldiers don't have it either, sir!"…"

"Careful, eh?" Gate Man taunted.

"Careful Man." Cloud Man laughed.

"Sure thin'…" Swallow Man sneered.

"Hmpf… Mere fools…" Cosmo Man taunted next.

"My, my. Interesting construct."

"Xon' Edos… Been a while, huh?"

"Indeed."

A Navi had suddenly shown up higher in the air and was now floating down to land atop the core (Rock Man had landed back on the ground and retrieved his sword too).

He looked about a meter and eighty tall and bronze was the main color of his body with some white spots.

The drawing of a planet was engraved on his helmet's forehead.

His eyes' irises were purple and looked calm.

He had two triangular wings (currently folded) with grooves drawn on it and colored bronze.

These same grooves repeated on the rest of his body.

He didn't have any emblems on his chest or in the helmet's ear pads

"So. A new war has begun, so as to speak? Gentlemen."

"Well… More like a scheme… A prelude… An experiment…"

"Hum. I see. What would the instigators gain?"

"Ever tried to research on the "Dimensional Converters"?" Rock Man asked.

"Well. I did but I fail to see the connection."

"Ah. You must've looked up Science Labs data. But there was another party who developed them before the Science Labs…"

"And there were technical differences, I am to assume?"

"A very important one." Rock Man grumbled.

"I am afraid I do not follow. No offense, yet…"

"Those other Converters trapped Navis inside of their power system and sucked their HP to start up. These UFOs were designed to capture Navis en masse and then make them become fuel for the Converters."

"WHAT?" He gasped.

"Which is what these "instigators" are doing… Repeating the happenings of 4 years ago…"

"Ah! What barbarians. We would have never developed such a system: we did develop Duo and we know the result yet that was a huge error in judgment." He fumed.

"It'd seem they're getting nervous. They didn't think we'd know about the Nebula "DC" model…" Omega muttered.

"Hmpf… What idiots…" Freeze Man's voice taunted.

"General Ivan. Did you lose your right hand and run off home?" Vadous taunted Freeze Man.

"Hmpf… Maybe…" He didn't bite the bait.

"_Kyoudai_~… I said it! I'm still around! To haunt you~…"

"How scary, Liquid."

"How devious, Snake."

"That is Twilight, then… I know he was involved with those weapons of some months ago…" Xon' Edos muttered.

"Hmpf! You Slur wannabe… Ya are nothing to be afraid of!"

"It is true that we share a common origin yet my technology is not as advanced as that of Slur… But I can battle."

"What? I thought you were an observer!"

"That is true. But one does never know what to expect of civilizations which develop Network technology. One cannot be _naïve_ in that aspect and must weight all probabilities in mind."

"This Slur imitator!" He growled.

"Slur Mark Two was too well done, developed will of her own and left that guy stranded to go help someone else." Omega summed up.

"I see. So that is why he barks at me." He rubbed his chin and looked slightly amused.

"Bark! Me! You lowlife!"

"That word does not hold any meaning for me. I am an extraterrestrial Net Navi."

"That bitch said the same!"

"I assume that is an insulting word."

"Yeah. Play deaf. It's the best way to get them to shut up." Omega told him.

"Indeed."

"Nya~h!"

"Hmpf. Liquid! You've fallen from atop Metal Gear RAY, it'd seem."

"SNAKE~! I'll bury ya yet! 1000 feet under!"

"Master…!"

"Bapgei. So you're there, huh?" Nelaus taunted.

"Maybe." He calmly replied.

"So? Did you book a place in the 2010 Rio de Janeiro Carnival?"

"Hmpf… Maybe."

"I shall be leaving. But if you need help… Do count on me."

"Sure. We'll show up in the threshold of your space-ship."

Xon' Edos opened a purplish gateway and flew inside before it closed: Twilight uttered something undecipherable and the connection was abruptly cut.

"Huh… You better remain there… Twilight – sama isn't in the best of his moods…" Freeze Man warned in a hushed tone.

"R-roger."

"Let's pull out. Ming will be telling them to buy a Ming Dynasty relic and use it as good luck charm, anyway." Vadous sarcastically suggested with a hint of amusement.

"T-that could be." Dragon gulped.

The Navis plugged out while Gate Man and some of the Mettools landed inside: he began to issue orders to them and they split while he jumped atop the core and began to touch it as if studying it.

"At least I'll bring back detailed data about these things: that should help Twilight – sama get back to a better mood."

"Wise thinking. He's gone out the house and I guess he's going to ravage something out there." Freeze Man sighed.

"Metto~…"

"Lemme tell you guys a joke!" Cloud Man grinned.

"What joke?" Swallow Man looked skeptical.

"… "The ultimate hideout, Boss! Not even after 1000 years would Mr. Super guess we're 'ere!"… "If ya say so"… "Pom, pom, pom… Lewinski! You there? Lewi…? HEY! Who are you two?"… "Ultimate hideout… BRJGHX! Only you would think of hiding under Clinton's Oval Office desk!"… "I… I…"…"

"What? Two guys hid beneath Clinton's desk?"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Ultimate hideout: I laugh at it!"

"Your jokes are as lame as ever…! GRJKTH!"

17:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Witch… Any news?"

"Except the UFOs… None."

"Jeez. I know I'm using my skills as _dominatrix_ queen in this place but the type of guys… Meh! They're all high-school guys or college guys. I prefer them younger."

"Sure thing, Kazuhira Ilia – chan…"

A Navi was talking with her Operator inside of a room somewhere which looked like a changing room like those in TV studios.

The Navi's eyes irises were golden and red.

Two long strings of reddish hair expanded from behind her head and reached as far as her ankles

She wore a witch's hat and a red leather bodysuit which formed the shape of an inverted triangle.

She sported long black leather gloves and heeled boots complemented by stockings on the legs and mail-like texture on the remaining exposed space of her arms.

She carried a magic staff with a black spheroid on top of it by grabbing it with her right hand: her emblem was placed on the suit's upper torso area just beneath the neck.

"Huff."

The Operator had platinum blond hair and icy blue eye irises.

She looked over her twenties.

She simply wore biker's gear, including a zipper leather suit, boots and gloves.

"Any other news? Nothing from Mr. Twilight?"

"Nothing yet."

Kazuhira sighed and picked her Link PET from the desk: her Link PET was colored metallic gray with a transparent reddish carcass which allowed one to see the circuitry boards.

Its emblem was the _Kanji majo_ (witch) colored lush green and drawn over a golden background.

"Lovely, truly…! He did help us hide in this club after the other we were at got raided by Zero some weeks ago… But it'd seem he did it on a rush and hence we ended up like this… I mean… Well. I'm 21. I haven't gone to college but I cleared high school. The guys there are boring. I prefer them _naïve_! I want to see true pain and struggle! Not some farce to fool an idiotic novice!" She fumed.

BANG!

She hit the desk with both closed fists and Witch rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms while aiming the rod at the ground.

"Excuse me." Someone knocked at the door.

"Huh? Who's there?"

"Me. Yoru Yami."

"Huh!"

Kazuhira rushed to the door and opened it: Twilight was there, wearing a black suit, pants and brown shoes.

He was about a meter and eighty tall.

"I'm sorry. I sent you to a boring place."

"W-were you hearing?"

"No. I just recalled and I checked up the info on this place… It turns out it wants to appeal as "secret" but it's public _and_ legal. 16 or above is an age where a part-time job can be found so… Most of them here came to do this, a part-time job, and earn some money… It's boring."

"I know. Could you direct us to another one? Or are they chasing us?"

"Zero is still in your trail. It'd seem the jerk got obsessed with hunting you ladies." He grumbled.

"Lovely~…" Witch sighed.

"So! Do you have good English?"

"English? Yeah. I passed the CAE exam. It was hard!"

"Good. You're coming to Melbourne, Australia."

"Oho. Australia! New horizons!"

"Sounds cool!"

"I've arranged a place in one club. Ah! And I'll call you over in a few days' time: I'm organizing a mass _dominatrix_ orgy."

"Oho. That sounds SO cool…"

"Yeah. I've still to gather the remaining actors… But in due time."

"Roger."

"We only need to pick a few essentials."

"Good. This is my number… Ring me when you're ready. I'll warp you to Melbourne… We'll drop by my manor firstly… My disciple is eager to learn some training from some excellent Mistresses... He's a high-school age guy but that shouldn't matter here… He carves the pain…"

"Carves the pain… Desires it… Interesting! I hadn't seen such a guy for ages, really!" Kazuhira was thrilled.

"Tee, heh, heh!"

Twilight handed them a piece of paper with a phone number on it and grinned as he walked down the poorly lit stone corridor.

_All that's left is gathering the remaining actors… Including an ignorant fool who will become the trigger to my scheme without knowing it… Hmpf! In the end the show that idiot pulled in October will end up benefitting me!_

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah… HAH, HAH, HAH!"

20:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Meijin? It's me, Zero…"

"Yo. Zero. So? What happened with those two escapees?"

"I guess they've hid in a legal club because I posted WANTED warrants all across the underground… I spread rumors and used money as bait as well but it was fruitless… It's been almost one month since they became escapees…"

"Maybe you're obsessing yourself with it too much, Zero. We'll eventually find them. Maybe Colonel will be able to find a lead."

"Colonel… That Navi who comes from the past…"

Zero had come to the Science Labs and was having a chat with Meijin as he drank some coffee and worked into something.

"Yeah… That Xon' Edos guy created a "Past Tunnel" when his scouting spacecraft dropped into Utah… There's now a "Time-Space Tower" standing there and several experiments are being done… They've been able to control the distortions of Time-Space and sent exploration probes to study the evolution of the Cyber World across 30 years…"

"It's almost identical to what happened in that "other world" where Twilight took over Nebula… That other "arc" or "story"…"

"I know. That "Duo" did the same but his intention was to erase Earth's future starting from 1975… To erase all Network technology… Which he apparently did, according to the data Kanou Shade left behind two years ago… But through some mean… Duo… The guy cancelled his "judgment" and restored Earth… Well! Thankfully enough… Xon' Edos is but an explorer and his craft doesn't have that ability… We should be glad Duo's Creators learnt their mistakes."

"Yeah. By the way, is this conversation secure?"

"Sure. Almost everyone is on summer vacation and I did check there wasn't anyone close by. Even the pranksters ran off to the coast to dive into the ocean, anyway…"

"Good."

"Anyway… Let's try talking about something cheerier…"

"Wait a min… Hmmm… Alright. I made sure that Shadow Man didn't sneak in either… And the firewalls got updated to repel those "ghosts" of the "Neo Gospel" guys…"

"Sure… Better make sure the spot is safe beforehand… That's important to survive in battle, too…"

"By the way, Meijin… I got told by Blood Shadow that Sigma sent you some package…"

"Yeah. "Vicar of Hell, Naraku. Ya know the address, dude."…"

"Vicar of Hell, Naraku…! Hell and the Naraku are two different concepts!"

"I know. The guy…!"

"And what was inside?"

"Huff. _Harry Potter and the Meijin Race_."

"What, a fake 8th book?"

"Sure as Hell."

"We just had the 6th film some weeks ago, anyway!"

"I know! But the guy's lame humor… The blurb says that Harry is struggling to get "meijin" titles in Mahjong and other sports…! All of the 7 titles in Mahjong as well…! How lame!" He grumbled.

"Sigma… Bringing trouble where there isn't!"

"I know…! I need Omega to slam the brakes on the guy or else…!"

"The city goes mad AGAIN… It's some miracle we're still sane after 4 years of the same thing happening AGAIN AND AGAIN!"

"Miracle sure is…! We need to solve this "Cyber Crisis", too…!"

"Che… Meddling fools… Let them be destroyed! Hmpf!"


	7. Chapter 7: Futuristic fella

**Chapter 7: Futuristic fella**

09:49 AM (Japan Time), Friday August the 4th…

"… Hiya~!"

"You're early."

"Tee, heh, heh!"

"Alright. Come in. I'll finish my breakfast."

"Aren't you excited, Isaac – kun?"

"Well… Yeah. Somewhat."

"Today is gonna be a shiny day!"

"Sure thing…"

"Auppp!"

"Whoa! Rush – chan? Where'd you come from?"

"Auppp!"

"He's picked by my skills."

Aura had come to meet Nelaus at his house: Nelaus sported an open greenish sleeveless vest, a white t-shirt with the Golden Bridge gate painted on it plus white sneakers.

Aura, on the other hand, sported a grayish sleeveless jacket which was opened, a black and red stripped t-shirt which ended right over the navel, a white skirt which ended over the hips and boots which reached until almost the knees.

They'd been chatting on the entrance of the house when Rush popped out behind Nelaus and surprised them.

"Alright. But don't get in the way of our date!" Aura told him.

"Auppp!"

"Guess he's gonna stay close by."

"Alright. Then I don't care. Come in: I'll be ready soon enough."

"OK! _Darling_!"

"Please…"

"Tee, heh, heh. It's a teaser!"

"Speaking of which… There's something we gotta discuss before setting off, Aura – chan."

"Huh? Well…"

Aura came in and closed the door before sitting down on the sofa and placing her brown bag on the table: Nelaus came in while cleansing his face with a handkerchief and then sat down in front of her: he looked slightly annoyed and Aura gulped.

"Aura – chan… I finally found out what you meant by "D"…"

"Ah… Is that so…?"

"Jeez. I knew this would end up being trouble." Felicia fumed.

"No wonder." Isaac rolled his eyes.

"That's no joke. Aura – chan. Hikari told me about what it really was about and for him it was no joke."

"B-b-but…"

"No buts. Be honest with me: are you really going out with me because you're friendly with me? Or are you intending to drag me into one of those things and then say "it was a joke"?"

"W-w-well…" She muttered.

"So?"

"B-b-but…! T-that's… Well… A teaser! That's all!"

"You should judge the consequences of your words before uttering them."

"Oh! Nelaus – kun! Don't get mad at me! I'm no bad girl!"

"I didn't say you were. I just want you to be honest with me."

"W-well, I just happened to hear a lot of chat about it on the all-girls' school I went at until some months ago…"

"And you thought it was fashionable."

"More or less…"

"I think that your ex-classmates surely went to a LEGAL club where there are guys who do that as a part-time job… But I'm not one of them and suddenly having me go through that… I could end up paranoid and suspecting my ex-Boss hired you to be her proxy."

"Yikes!"

"SEE?" Felicia snapped.

"Huff." Isaac sighed.

"And if you thought that doing that to another girl is funny then think again, Felicia – chan! It isn't." Felicia told her.

"W-well, I did once tell you to go do that with Roll but I didn't really mean it: I was absent-minded and such…!"

"So? What's the answer?"

"I won't do that! I promise! I want us to be a normal duo of friends!"

"Fine. There. Topic settled, locked and buried. I'm going to pick the keys and the wallet."

"O-OK…"

"Be right back…"

Nelaus came out of the living room and Aura sighed while Felicia directed a scolding glare at her.

"See? I told you that you'd end up in trouble like that. His reasoning is perfectly logical."

"I'm no – one's proxy!"

"It was a "what-if" _scenario_, Aura – chan. You're telling me you didn't grasp it? Anyone would've."

"Why do I always look like I mess it up?"

"It's not that. You simply take things lightly. One should be wary of what they say."

"Jeez. And now cha are Miss Perfect?" Aura complained.

"Maybe."

"… Let's go."

Nelaus came back into the living room: Aura nervously nodded and they came out as Nelaus set up the alarm and locked the house: both began to walk down and headed for the close Metro Line station.

"Eh… Well… Nelaus – kun… I…"

"There's no need to discuss that any further."

"But…"

"It's settled." He calmly insisted.

"… Alright… Sorry."

"You didn't have any bad intentions. It's just that you should realize that there are things which shouldn't be taken lightly. Other persons may feel offended or laughed at… Like the victims of my ex-Boss…"

"And Hikari – kun is one of them?" She gasped.

"No. But he went through something triggered by my ex-_senpai_ which left sequels on him… Not negative sequels but…"

"Huh… Guess I'd rather keep quiet about that."

"It's the best choice."

"So! Let's go to the game hall in Akihara Tower! Nelaus – kun!"

"Sure. Let's have some fun."

"Incoming call from Raoul…" Isaac reported.

"Raoul? Who's that?" Felicia asked.

"A collaborator of the Net Police… Thunder Man's Operator… A pal of Hikari…" He summed up.

"Yo! Nelaus! I've got some good news for ya! Ya got chosen to take part in the "Crazy Raoul Disco Show"!" Raoul showed up onscreen sporting an afro wig and star-shaped sunglasses.

"What in the…? Is this some local April's Fool or what?"

"Nope!"

"Raoul! Stop acting like a moron! Sigma sent you that video in which he'd edited ya to look like that and dance and you decided to take it literally: it's but a poorly made edit of some pro dancer!" Thunder Man scolded Raoul.

"_Go! Masked Thunder_!"

"Wha~t? What's with this silly disguise~?" Thunder Man groaned.

"Deliver the lightning justice!"

"L-lightning justice~? Oh come on!"

"Tee, heh, heh. They're funny!" Aura giggled.

"Please. Don't give them credit: it gets worse. Sigma…!"

"RAOUL! Take off this thing NOW! Or I'm gonna get MAD!"

"Hugo Loco! Go! Hugo Pato! Go!"

"W-what in the…? RAOU~L!"

"The madness strikes back… Sigma…! Ya need some lessons!"

"Tee, heh, heh! This just brightened my mood, _darling_!"

"This gal…!" Felicia cursed.

"Welcome to the club." Isaac sarcastically told her.

11:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Aye, aye! Is there anyone here? Is anyone gonna come out and handle the customers?"

"Yessir! Number Man: how can I help you?"

"I'm lookin' for Yoyo Battle Chips, _Danna_."

"We've got plenty of them. Mr. Customer."

"Destruction Man."

"Mr. Destruction Man!"

"Alright."

A Navi entered Higureya's Internet City store to buy some Battle Chips: Number Man handled the deal.

Destruction Man looked close to a meter and eighty tall.

Black shades similar to Blues' own design hid his eyes but his mouth denoted seriousness.

A matrix of nine red spots was set on his forehead.

He had a robot-like designed given his metallic blue and silver armor pieces all over his body.

His armor included a belt while his legs had jets attached to them from behind.

His left arm ended in knife-like fingers and his right arm had an incorporated missile launcher on top of the right palm holding up to 10 missiles.

His body had brown-colored energy conduits which seemed to originate from the chest emblem.

His emblem (the _Kanji_ _hakai_ (destruction) colored metallic gray and drawn over an azure background) was set on the center of his armor.

"De masu~! Wait a min, Number Man!"

"What now, Yamitarou?" He grumbled.

"Mr. Robocop!"

"I know I look like Robocop, yeah, but…" Destruction Man sighed.

"De masu! Ta-dan! "Time Machine"!"

"T-time Machine? Giga Class Battle Chip?"

Higure formed a hologram of the Chip: its drawing was a tall metallic cabinet with a round viewing window and several devices attached to it: the thing seemed to be about two meters tall.

"Yessir! This will rewind the internal clocks 5 minutes! Masu! And then all built up damage and status changes will be reverted! Masu!"

"But… Hey. That's an imitation of Bandit Keith's "Time Machine" Trap Card!"

"Oho! Masu! Mr. Operator?"

"Yeah… Name's Future…"

The Operator's window opened: Future sported a biker's helmet with the _Kanji mirai _(future) colored fuchsia imprinted on the forehead.

"Well! De masu! This Chip is given for free to the 999th customer: and you are it, de masu!"

"I've seen too many automated adverts like that by now… And I'm sure that thing doesn't work to begin with and you just made it to show it off, anyway…" He spoke with Kansai dialect.

"Terror and fear! Such is the might of "Neo Gospel"! Pentagon Gun!"

"Uwa~h! Duck!"

"What? Who's that?"

"Zoan Gate Man! Former Falzer Army! Now… Neo Gospel member! Mwah hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"So that fella is THE Gate Man, huh."

Gate Man suddenly burst in while drawing his Gate Cannon and shooting five beams colored red, blue, green, yellow and cyan: they formed a pentagon which got stuck into the far wall and five circles with the _kanji_ "honoo" (flames), "mizu" (water), "kusa" (grass), "denki" (elec) and "koori" (ice) appeared there next.

"What? Looks like something ripped off some _manga_." Future muttered.

"Hmpf! So ya wanna face me, ugly?"

"You lowlife… A "Rama" member… Thought you'd died…" Gate Man calmly muttered.

"Heh! I'm the diehard type! And now! Destroy Missile!"

"Hmpf. Activate! Pentagon!"

An Ice Tower formed in front of Destruction Man formed by an Aqua Tower to the right, a Flame Tower to the left, the Boomerang Battle Chip flying from the south and bolts of lightning falling down from above: he merely spun upon his axis clock-wise and shot out through the NE as the other attacks converged and caused an explosion which split the counter in half: Number Man, ducking on the right side of it (and behind it) gasped and groaned.

"Higureya! Some vandals are wrecking Higureya!"

"DE MASU~! MY SOUL'S BURNING! MASU~! SOUL BURNING!"

"That's idiotic, Yamitarou!" Number Man groaned.

"Uwa~h!"

CRASH!

"Oh. He fell from atop the counter." Shuuko muttered.

"Pyurururu!"

"Destroy Missile!"

Destruction Man aimed his right arm forward and shot ten small missiles: they hit the Gate Cannon from the flanks and pierced through some of it.

"What?"

"Ever heard of bunker-piercing warheads?" Future taunted.

"Damn it. Gate Cannon!"

Destruction Man's chest compartments opened and he created a black hole-like phenomena which made the Gate Cannon break down into data and form in Destruction Man's left forearm: Gate Man gasped and received the blast which went inside of the opened chest compartment: he growled and was kicked backwards by the blow.

"Grua~h… Who'd said you lowlife had such abilities…?"

"Heh! Ya look down on me ya get busted!"

"Go!"

"Yessir!"

Destruction Man ignited his jets and drew the left closed punch forward: some small knife-like extensions appeared at the knuckle: he plunged those into the torso below the chest and Gate Man growled again.

"Devil Hand!"

The Devil Hand headed for the forehead but the red spots shone and frizzled with electricity.

"Huh? What?"

"Heh!"

The red spots' glow increased and a streak of electricity travelled up Gate Man's body Destruction Man then punched him in the lower jaw with the right first and sent him into the ground before he calmly landed back by flipping.

"How is it, _Danna_? I'm a tough rascal!"

"Damn you~… Go! Legion 64!"

"Metto~!"

"Heh! Come!"

The 64 Mettools rushed in but Destruction Man readied his fists and formed a smug grin: he shot Gate Man with the Gate Cannon once more before he let it reform.

"Destroy Fist!"

Destruction Man's fists glowed with red energy until they looked like molten metal and he shot forward with his boots' jets: he made contact and the blow sent Gate Man flying outta the store and hitting a wall into the street: he then began to spin while punching and kicking the Mettools out into the street by several of them at the same time: some spectators began to form and look on: Gate Man growled and tried to stand up but a Mettool hit him in the forehead with the hard-hat and knocked him back into the ground: Destruction Man increased his spinning speed and kept on kicking them out until all of them were piled in a heap burying Gate Man under them.

"Hah! That was worth a warming up, Future!"

"Sure thin', man." He laughed.

"Gate Man. What's the…? What in the…?"

Cosmo Man's "ghost" formed next to the heap of Mettools and gasped in shock when seeing the scenery.

"So! Who wants more?" Destruction Man challenged as he came outta the store and banged his chest.

"Guh! This looks dire… In that case…! Emergency retrieval! Open! Hades' Time-Space!"

A purplish spiraling "portal" opened and it sucked up all Mettools and Gate Man before it closed and Cosmo Man flashed: his hologram vanished and a purplish dot was left on the ground which quickly sped away travelling across the circuitry pathways.

"Heh! That guy got the beatin' of the century! Ya moron! Don't come back 'ere 'cause this is gonna be OUR territory~! Hah!"

20:20 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Ani – chan! Did ya find a girlfriend while I was away?"

"How funny."

"Heh, heh, heh! Ya never know, Ayase!"

"_How_ did you get in?"

"The door was badly locked, see."

"… Or did you get a spare key somehow?"

"Well…"

"Charles gave it to you."

"Eh… Yeah… Ani – chan…"

"Jeez. Charles. You need to mess it up, too?"

Martin had been working with a laptop on his apartment when someone showed up behind him: he sighed and turned the chair around to meet the newcomer, Ayase.

Ayase was about Netto's age and height.

He had blond-like hair and his eyes' irises were blue.

He wore a sleeveless black shirt, brown shorts, a black leather belt and sandals.

He had some slight remains of old cuts and scratches on his face along with some coagulated wounds on his skull but which were hard to spot.

"Well… What's with the long face?"

"… Those two."

"Huh? Charles and Davis?"

"No. Bella and Viper." He hissed.

"What…!"

"Yeah… Former Dark Land Foreign Department… And Former Desert Wraiths Members… Twilight rescued those two 30 minutes ago."

"By all the…!" He turned white.

"I know. Those two psychos… They dared to torture you and try to brainwash you into being the "ultimate" Cross Fusion user… But thanks to Hikari and Rock Man that plot got busted some months ago…"

"Yeah… Damn it! They'll be coming for me again?"

"I don't know. But if it's Twilight… He hates being readable and predictable so he'd rather not do that. Those two will obey the guy because they owe the guy big." He grumbled.

"Che! Those rascals… I'll fill them with petrol and feathers!" Lander drew his revolvers and spun them by the triggers.

"Sure thing…"

"Huh… This ain't a moment to get moody! Ahem! The slowly falling wood beats the quickly climbing wind."

"HUH? Is that some new joke?" Martin looked surprised.

"Yeah, ani – chan! The Cut Man Brothers were broadcasting it!"

"The Pentagon Brothers, huh."

"Pentagon Brothers! That's good, ani – chan!"

"Yeah. I know the lil brothers use that on the commanding one."

"Commanding a commanding command!"

"Jeez. That's Shadow Man's rhyme: I heard him chant it in Maha Ichiban's when I went to have a meal." Martin rolled his eyes and leant on the desk with a sigh.

"Heh, heh, heh! Revolver a revolving revolver!" Lander joked.

"Swallow me, Earth…!"

"Don't be so defeatist, ani – chan!"

19:49 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Well, well. Mr. Twilight. So we meet again."

"Do we still have some worth?"

"Yeah. Your skills as _dominatrix_ queens… IQ – sama wanted me to gather some of the best for an orgy we're gonna set up in a few days' time: I found two, I rescued you two and I'm going to rebuild your former disciple while also bringing IQ – sama in person to the party…"

"Ah! Hidden Heart, of the Filibusters of Death… Yeah… She was a good disciple… Is her room we built still in one piece?"

"No. All of the stuff there has been moved to other clubs save the pool thing because it was built in… I did it to prevent the Net Police tracing them back because I bought them from a supplier here in Melbourne, you see…"

"Oho. Did you hear it, Bella?"

"I did, Viper – sama."

Twilight was speaking with a woman and her Navi as they sat opposite each other in a living room located at ground floor: they were sitting in sofas and split by the tea-table.

Viper, the Operator, appeared to be on her late twenties and close to a meter and eighty tall.

She had short blond hair and blue eyes.

She wore olive green military attire with a long skirt which reached past the knees and boots.

She had no distinction whatsoever indicating her rank.

"Don't fight with her. That's an order, Bella." Viper commanded as she flung some hair backwards.

"I couldn't fight with my equal, my lady."

"Good!"

Bella, the Navi could be on her 20s.

Her eyes' irises were colored blood red and displayed calm.

Some white hair emerged from behind her helmet.

Her bodysuit was mainly colored with a mix of golden and silver colors yet the helmet was bronze.

Her shoulders were anatomically correct and the Cyrillic spelling of "Bella" had been drawn there using blood red pain.

She had wave-like patterns drawn on her arms and elbows colored in different shades of blue and gray.

The forearms were crimson red and she had greenish fake nails over her fingers.

She also wore a black leather belt with a Battle Chip case attached to the right side of it and a service revolver on its left side.

Her legs had mail-like patterns colored black drawn over them and exposed some "skin" colored to look like a human's skin.

Her black boots were heeled and the front had a small blade emerging from there.

Her emblem was the Cyrillic symbol for "B" set against a black background and surrounded by eight fangs aiming towards it.

She currently had a smug smile on her face.

"So? When is the deal?"

"Few more days… Have patience. I'll send you to a club I'm financing to warm up and get your skills to work again…"

"So? What happened to the lab mouse?" Viper smugly asked.

"Ah. Ah. Yes, yes… The lab mouse… They returned to normal and no sequels were left behind… They're with their guardian foxhound…"

"My, my. So we can't touch them?"

"No. They must've predicted it by now. And I don't like using the same trick twice in a row. It gets boring. It means lack of imagination or tactical sense."

"True… So reusing the "mimics" is out of question, too?"

"They'll think of it, too. It's associated to your names. No. We'll provoke them but I'll leave those idiots lead by that Ming fool to stir up some ruckuses in vain."

"Oho. General Ming, eh? I remember we investigated him once a year ago… Lots of bribes… The "accidental" death of the guy who was gonna be ascended on his place… Heh! No wonder he's trying to play Mr. Smart by now with the UFOs…" Viper laughed.

"Ah. Interesting. I could make the guy go down in shame: it'd be fitting for the fool who dared to laugh at "Neo Gospel" and the will of IQ – sama!"

"Like ya did with Satan Takaisho… The guy behind "Atomic Network"…"

"Yeah… The fool tried to laugh at IQ – sama and decimate those two but in the end I had the guy go down in shame… Heh, heh, heh. They had it coming, the damned fool…"

"Yeah… Sending us an earthquake to ravage a weapons development lab wasn't nice either. Like the guy was a genius and we were idiots: we proved the guy wrong with the P. W. deal and the "Mimics"!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Sure thing… Oh well. Let the guy feed off his anger and hatred and let it consume his small brain… Eventually… The _Naraku_ will swallow the guy and grant him agony beyond imagination… Even exceeding that of Dante's _Inferno_… Heh, heh, heh…"

"My, my. Scary, scary~!" Viper laughed.

"Truly, Mistress!" Bella giggled.

"Soon! _Kyoudai_… You lowlife will realize something: ya are but a Bruce Wayne wannabe… And reality will knock at the door… To remind ya that you aren't an overwhelmingly powerful God… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"


	8. Chapter 8: College trouble

**Chapter 8: College trouble**

12:12 PM (Japan Time), Sunday August the 6th…

"… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Let's go!"

"Yeah, Boss!"

"Boom!"

"Intruders in the student data servers!"

"Reinforce security!"

"Call the Net Police!"

"ID them!"

"Choina hackers!"

"Che! We won't let them access the student data!"

"Well then… Let them be beheaded here and now…"

"Huh? Who…?"

"Axe Man."

Some Security Navis had been guarding some servers when a bunch of Navis having purple armor and mean looks rushed in while wielding maces and cutlasses: they began to organize a defense and then someone's voice rang out.

"Hah!"

"Uwah! What's with that guy?"

"H-huge~!"

"Hmpf. Axe Man came."

Axe Man's azure eye irises were protected by the helmet's protection

He looked like a medieval knight with azure armor covered in bronze diamond patterns.

He carried a large axe on his right hand and an octahedron shield on his left one adorned with the word "Rama" colored golden.

His legs and arms had sparkling ivory patterns spinning around their surface.

He looked over a meter and eighty tall and his axe emitted an unsettling sparkle of cleanness to it.

"So you lot are Choina's mice."

"MICE~? We're the best!"

"Hmpf. Then come. And be buried."

"B-boss, that guy looks dire…!"

"Nothing to be scared of! Let's go!"

"Hmpf… Come."

"Golden Fist! Eat this!"

"Wrong."

Axe Man brought forth his shield and the Golden Fist shattered upon impact: he then brought the axe down almost 180º and sliced the Boss Navi in half: they were deleted and the other intruders gasped in fear as they began to step back: Axe Man stepped forward two steps and loomed over them while lifting the axe: they all ran for it and quickly escaped yet 7 Dream Viruses came in their place: Axe Man jumped faster than one would expect from his size and spun upon his axis to cut off the head of one Dream Virus followed by a vertical clean cut slicing it from neck to the waist: it exploded and he quickly deflected the laser of another one with his shield thus hitting its chest and opening a wound there: Axe Man quickly drew an "X" with the axe and cut the main body in four pieces which slowly split away before blowing up: he landed back on the ground and ran towards them.

"Go. Axe Man."

"Roger, Present – sama."

The Operator window he had a navy blue biker's helmet with his codename's _Kanji_ (colored green) set on its forehead on.

He seemed to be older than Past or Future given the tone of his voice.

"5 left. Go."

"Roger."

Axe Man rushed towards the remaining 5 and deflected their lasers before jumping into the air and tossing his axe forward: it began to hum as it spun upon its axis and easily cut through the front 3 Dream Viruses while hitting the other 2 in the back row: they all exploded and Axe Man landed forward: the axe changed its rotation to spin vertically and then landed in a neat manner in the ground: Axe Man picked it up and brandished it as a colony of purple Mettools rushed in.

"Metto~…"

"Hum. Fusion body." Present calmly deduced.

"Roger."

In effect: the Mettools broke down into blocks of data which began to fuse and give way to a gigantic Mettool but the differences were that its eyes were replaced by flamethrowers and it had two machineguns built into the flanks of the hardhat: its feet had become claws as well and as if it wasn't enough a tank turret with the gunner was also built on the top: the gun was a laser cannon which was loading up purplish energy as the gunner laughed.

"Be crushed, you damned fly!"

"Hmpf… Size does not matter… Axe Man. You know what to do."

"Roger, Present – sama."

"EAT THESE!"

"Hmpf…"

"What!"

The Giant Mettool opened fire and shot with all of the weapons at Axe Man's spot but he merely formed a jet-pack on his back and flew skywards thus avoiding all attacks which only shattered and peeled the surface layer of the ground: Axe Man swung his shield towards the gunner and the guy quickly lifted the laser gun but gasped since it was discharged and needed time to recharge.

"Fool." Axe Man icily taunted.

The shield cut the gunman in half and they were deleted while Axe Man landed atop it and cut the laser gun in half: the energy began to flow out in a mad manner while creating streaks of wild electricity: these hit the machineguns and the flamethrowers while also blowing them up: the electricity spread and the Mettool groaned as it collapsed face-up on the field and broke down into the basic Mettools which began to be deleted one after the other until none were left.

"Who's next?" Present taunted.

There were some mutterings in the air and Axe Man merely landed and placed his axe vertically.

"Hum. Chinese… The hackers… Shall I translate?"

"Do it."

"Roger. "The General will have our NECKS!"… "Who the hell is that guy and why didn't they show up in the Net Savior database?" … "Dunno!"…"

"Hmpf… How foolish… Announce it, Axe Man."

"You hacker lot. Yes. I know you can hear my voice. I'm Axe Man! Former member of… "Rama"… Do you know what it is? We were disbanded but a few weeks ago. You should know it."

There were more mutterings and this time the tone of the voices seemed to portray panic and fear.

"Hmpf… So you've heard of us… Some fools seem to think we were deleted but you must be mistaking us for other organizations. Rama was dissolved by the will of Priest – sama… And we all trek our roads…"

"If you lowlifes try to impose a ruling of fear… And trying to repeat the foolish history of ruling… Then we shall be your opponents no matter how many times it takes…"

The muttering halted in a sudden manner and there was a click: Axe Man shrugged and exited the system while the Security Navis rushed over to the firewall to check on it.

"Blues. Net Savior. What's the status?"

"Huh! Well… The invaders have been already repelled, sir…"

"Huh? By whom?"

"Some Navi named Axe Man…"

"Axe Man… Search Man told me about the guy…"

Blues rushed in while having his Long Sword drawn but the Security Navi informed that the trouble had been solved so he rubbed his chin with the left hand instead.

"And according to Netto's and Laika's hypothesis… The Operator is a college teacher… Maybe in this very college, hence why Axe Man showed up here so quickly…" Enzan argued next.

"What should we do, Enzan – sama?"

"Don't mind it. Let's go back. Rama isn't our enemy anymore. The enemy is Choina. And Twilight. Remember it, Blues."

"Roger, Enzan – sama."

"Magicus Horrificus will bring forth the curse of the Din-Din-Din!"

"Sigma. Trolling. As usual." Enzan grumbled.

"Che. Can't they do something far more useful?"

"We need Omega to kick the guy's arse."

"I do agree with it, sir."

"Grmbldj…! Sigma…! Do something useful already!"

20:40 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah… Yeah… It feels good… Netto – kun…"

"Heh, heh, heh. You missed these games, eh, Tooru – kun?"

"It's already been 4 years… Hard to believe, huh? In September we'll become 4th grade students…!"

"Even Dekao – kun?"

"Yeah. He somehow managed to pass by inches."

"Netto – kun is somewhat sneaky. He likes being in the middle."

"I know, Saito – niisan… Ah… Pump it harder into me, please…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. We're some surprising boys. Doing this standing in Tooru – kun's shower…"

"Yeah… Dad won't be back 'till later so…"

"But I'm surprised that Axe Man resurfaced…"

"Hum. No grudge. The guy was proving that they were being serious or else we wouldn't have battled them with all of our strength."

"Yeah. That's the way to go, Saito – kun."

Tooru, Netto and Saito were having sex while standing in Tooru's shower yet they'd geared themselves with some S&M gear which consisted on a thin black leather collar with a ring, bands circling the shoulders and going down the sides, adjustable bands on the hips and the ankles.

They'd also blindfolded each other and placed metallic bracelets on their forearms bounded by a lock while aiming their hands behind.

Tooru and Netto had a black 5cm wide vibrator stuffed into them from behind and Saito also did but he'd fitted the remaining gap in his ass with anal beads.

Tooru was in the front, Netto was the middle and Saito was the rear so they were all pumping into each other's asses.

They'd also clipped clothes pegs to their nipples as well.

"Our "light" S&M game… It feels funny… And it's challenging… You must release by pumping… But in Tooru – kun's case he must get aroused by my pumping to release…" Netto giggled.

"Sure thing… We're some naughty boys… But can't be helped: ever since 4 years ago… The desire was left rooted in our bodies…" Saito muttered with a shrug.

"I know… That 24-hour marathon deal… Until now… I was your only confident who knew that… Of the class, I mean… Now Meiru – chan knows but she will understand it…"

"Surely… Anyway… I'm gonna tease ya~… Tooru – kun!"

"Bring it on, Netto – kun."

"Heh, heh, heh. Netto – kun… You need some teasing, too~…"

Netto began to lick the edge of Tooru's right ear from behind while Saito licked the base of Netto's neck: Netto and Tooru began to moan from the sensations and Saito sped up the pace so Netto did the same with Tooru: Tooru's cock hardened and began to swing.

"I'm feeling it… It's rushing up…!"

"Then let it come out!" Netto grinned.

"Yeah… And then we'll go off in a chain!"

"Coming! Uwah!"

Tooru released and stained his torso with some stains: his release triggered Netto's and Netto's triggered Saito's: they all panted after releasing and began to pull out slowly.

"Time for some blowjobs… I go first… Tooru – kun… Get close… Saito – niisan will handle your rear…" Netto giggled.

"Leave it up to me."

"OK."

"Here I go…"

Netto slowly descended to his knees and began to suck on Tooru's cock while Saito walked in from behind and rubbed his against Tooru's back to get it hard and stuff it inside of Tooru: Tooru began to moan and pant while Netto calmly followed his own set pace: Saito began to lick his ears from behind.

"Heh, heh, heh. I'll be next to tease your penis, Tooru – kun…"

"G-go ahead, Saito – kun, but… O~h… Don't tease me like that… It tickles, Saito – kun…!"

"I'm Sneaky Snake."

"Very funny…! Huh! Going off!"

"Go off with a blast and a bang."

"How funny!"

"Heh, heh, heh!"

Tooru went off and Netto stopped: he stood up as Saito swapped places with him and Netto resumed pumping into Tooru's ass while licking the base of his neck to tease him: Saito calmly began to lick at his own pace and quickly sped it up.

"Whoa… Saito – kun likes doing it fast…!"

"Guess that either Blues or Search Man are to blame." Netto giggled.

"Surely…! But, really… Enzan – kun and Laika – san quarreling over who decided the orders… And needing to be scolded… How the mighty have fallen, huh?" Tooru ironically commented.

"Sure thing… I hope that by hiding the stuff I can control their impulses: it's not like I hate the S&M deal but… I'd prefer some raw because it feels natural and real… Not some role-playing game…"

"Good point."

"Point a pointing point. Newest banner!"

"Dragon – san…! And his weird banners…!"

"This is the Ox year, ya know."

"Wasn't there a Navi named Ox something?"

"Ah… Yeah! Ox Fire. That Emperor S guy sent the guy to attack the Black Hole PMC in Arkansas back in late 2007…"

"Huh! I'm going off!"

"Through the backdoor!"

"How original."

Tooru released and Saito swallowed it up: he giggled as he stood up and began to rub his cock along with Tooru's while starting a kiss with him: Netto merely hardened his cock again and began to pump in and out again while teasing him.

_Heh, heh, heh. Saito – niisan's kisses are enough to drive you mad: he loves going slowly and teasing you over and over again… _

Both Saito and Tooru released and Netto did the same: Saito broke apart with a grin while Tooru was panting: Saito then bit the string connecting both clothes pegs and pulled it to inflict some slight pain to Tooru and stimulate him: he quickly swapped places with Netto who began to kiss him and rub his cock against his as Saito got inside of Tooru and kept on teasing him.

_Heh! Today we'll be playing with Tooru – kun… He needs some thrill: this summer is progressing and we're ready to deliver the _coup de grace_ to those hackers yet… Twilight's been acting in a worrying manner… Freeing Viper and Bella… And I suspect he hired that Prophetess gal and that Navi named Witch… Davis, Lander and Zero told me enough to know that they're ambitious _dominatrix _girls… We've reinforced security in the prison where Anaya Maria is being held at just in case but I'm afraid it won't be enough if he sends a legion of ripped off PKMN sprites to assault it similar to 2 years ago…_

"… Go!" He suddenly announced aloud.

Tooru and Netto released and panted from the effort: Tooru grinned and pulled Netto's string so he moaned and snapped out of it.

"My little payback!" He giggled.

"Ah! This pain… It's good to wake you up, yeah… Man. How many times have we released already? We gotta be about to run dry, even."

"Heh, heh, heh. Well. Then let's leave it at here for the time being."

"Sure, Saito – niisan… Let's shut the shower…"

Netto touched the wall with the hands and noticed the controller to turn on the shower so he shut it and faced the wall: Tooru walked backwards and used his fingers to remove the lock on the forearms: Netto removed his blindfold and blinked for some seconds before stretching and quickly unlocking Saito's and Tooru's locks.

"Ah…! Today felt good, too…"

"Didn't it? Anyway… Let's go dry and get dressed… We gotta remove the stuff and take it home…" Saito told Netto.

"OK, Skipper."

"How original." Saito didn't seem to find it funny.

"Heh, heh, heh! Saito – kun could be a good Skipper, yeah!"

"Please… Don't praise him or it gets worse." Saito rolled his eyes.

"Hey. At least it's not as worse as Sigma's jokes and Dragon – san's banners, Saito – niisan. No need to be so defeatist…"

"Huff. Those two… They're nightmares, alright."

"So bring out the Anti-Nightmare Spray and spray 'em up."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." Saito sighed.

"Anti-Nightmare Spray… You could patent it as a _Duel Monsters_ Trap Card, even! "Pay 700 Points and you can Destroy a "Demon-Tribe" Monster."…"

Netto and Tooru laughed while Saito rolled his eyes…

23:23 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… So! Will you remember my commands, Hidden Heart? You mustn't feel envious of Bella there. You're my second disciple."

"I know, Mistress. I obey and live."

"Good, good. And, Bella… Cha two are equal in rank so don't try to go around pulling loopholes on me by arguing that cha have higher rank and issue orders in my place…"

"Roger, Viper – sama…"

Bella was standing inside of a Cyber World and talking with Navi while receiving commands from Viper.

The Navi, Hidden Heart, Her helmet's color was black with five purple stripes stretching across its length and the initials "FOD" colored purple on the forehead.

Her eyes' irises were coal and some crimson curly hair came out from behind her helmet.

Her main body's color was purple and the chest emblem was the Trumps "heart" colored crimson set upon a blue background.

Her shoulders were anatomically correct and colored black with cobalt circles atop them.

The arms and elbows were colored black and some pink bands travelled across their length while forming a shape reminiscent of a DNA strain.

Her forearms were colored crimson and her fingers were purple: they contained fake fingernails colored black.

She sported a utility belt similar to Bella's but hers had the same "FOD" letters on its center: she also had a coiled whip attached to its right side.

Her legs were colored purple and had green bands crisscrossing at some points along their length which were also reminiscent of DNA strains.

Her boots were heeled and black in color.

They included diagonal crisscrossing brown patterns too.

"Good. So, Mr. Twilight… When's the show?" Viper asked as she glanced at her right.

"4 days from now." Twilight calmly replied.

"More than enough time… Listen, Heart… You'll come with us and train to sharpen your skills… Soon enough… That prey you sought will fall into your hands and you'll be able to toy with them as much as you want: bring them down to their knees and have them lick your boots!" Viper eagerly told her.

"As you desire, my Mistress." She bowed.

"As for cha, Bella… Cha can pick any other prey but there's one which will be saved up by an important person who will be taking part: just remember to obey that person's commands… It's thanks to their sympathy that we're here and not rotting in that women's prison."

"Acknowledged." Bella saluted.

"I'm finishing up the preparations… In two days' time… IQ – sama shall become free again… And engrave into those foolish preys this message: that their fate is to be dominated and to submit!"

"Yeah… That's what we need, yeah… Tee, heh, heh. So? How many guests will there be?"

"Well. I won't be taking part myself: I'll just stay here in the ground floor arranging for decoys to lure _kyoudai_ elsewhere… There'll be you 3, another 2 mistresses and IQ – sama, so… 6."

"6 guests to have fun with, eh? Tee, heh, heh."

"This'll be thrilling."

"And no ordinary guests, either… Hi-quality preys… One of them hasn't had a taste of the deal yet… That'll be IQ – sama's prey… They need a lesson or two…"

"Tee, heh, heh. Teasing us, Mr. Twilight?" Viper giggled.

"For all I know…" He shrugged.

"… Tee, heh, heh."

"… "Bye-Bye Hong Kong!"… Ya know what it is, Swallow Man?"

"Another parody comic?"

"Yessir."

"Set in 1997, I take it."

"Oho. Ya knew when Hong Kong got returned to Choina, eh?"

"Yeah. I do. So?"

"Well! So! M&F have a mission: find the foreign power saboteur who is trying to boycott the negotiations to return Hong Kong and spark World War III!"

"World War III… That's overused…!" Yamato Man grumbled.

"Totally." Cosmo Man fumed.

"Don't try to make the morale go down, Cloud Man!" Freeze Man warned with a menacing glare.

"Uo~h! R-roger, _Danna_…"

"So? What happened?"

"Heh! "Huh! I can already picture WWIII and WWIV going off together!"…"

"Because they bring trouble wherever they go to, I take it?"

"Bingo and ongib!"

"Ongib…? Jeez."

"Not bad…" Twilight chuckled.

"Twilight – sama…! Do not praise them or it gets worse, sir!"

"Kidding, Freeze Man, kidding… I feel cocky today…"

"Lovely." He sighed.

"Isn't it?"

"Twilight – sama…!"

"My bad. I guess these things drive ya mad."

"They do, sir!"

"Well. No need to go mad… Anyway… Darth Bapgei!"

"Master?"

"Hong-Kong."

"My next mission?"

"Sort of, yeah…"

"… Or is it another of Cloud Man's parody comics?" He seemingly guessed with some annoyance.

"Bravo."

"I prefer throwing knives at hens to that." He fumed.

"Then go fulfill that desire… Through Knife Hen Man…"

"Knife Hen Man…! How silly." Hidden Heart muttered.

"Gotta agree with cha…" Bella whispered.

"Even I find it ridiculous…" Viper admitted.

"Since I seem to annoy everyone I'm off to buy some groceries: I'll pick the disguise and be on my way."

"So! The Prof granted a "600" which was outfitted with several functions and all, it could even fly… And lastly…"

"It could freeze the ground?" Swallow Man sarcastically suggested with a sigh.

"Nope! "I'm still worried they're chasing us." … "Then let's use this button, Boss! "Total trace erasure"… BOOM! "In effect! All traces have been erased!"…"

"What? The car self-destructed? And they called that "total trace erasure"…? Why not "self-destruct" and we'll avoid this kind of disaster in the first place?" Swallow Man looked perplexed.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Blame the Prof and his puny attempt at imitating James Bond's cars!" Cloud Man laughed.

"No wonder it's a parody comic…!"

"I'm off to meeting with the pals… I've got a cover to preserve so as to hide my true ID… Later."

"So! Bapgei! Will ya pick Wanikoko as the starter and imitate Silver from the _Special_ manga?" Cloud Man called out.

"Who knows? Ask your imagination, Cloud Man."

"Mwah, hah, hah. That's the kind of answer comin' from a smart fella!"

"Che. I'm off."

"Bella, Heart… Come with me. We're going to the club to train: it's about to get climatic!" Viper commanded.

"Roger!"

"Mutter to yourself. I'm off to meeting with Gate Man and planting more spies in the Choina hacker squad servers." Swallow Man flew off.

"Come with me. We'll go scout the prison and make sure all is ready for the D-Day." Freeze Man told Yamato Man.

"Yes, my Lord…!"

"Oi! Don't leave me alone~! You boycotters!"

Everyone left and Cloud Man was left alone: he grumbled under his breath and got a twitch over his right eye.

"CHE! I'm off to taunting Sigma!"

His hologram disappeared and he travelled away from the system.

_Wait and see, Swallow Man… I'll be the one to laugh in the end! Hah!_


	9. Chapter 9: Breakout

**Chapter 9: Breakout**

00:07 AM (New Orleans Time), Tuesday August the 8th…

"… Tee, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…"

_Too bad for ya, Marco and Kranos, but I'm the one getting out this time around… Twilight got everything ready days ago… Well. In the worst-case _scenario_ then… I'll be back here in less than 5 days, but… Whatever. I'll have fulfilled my desire… I've changed it… Those two are no longer the preys I seek… I'll deal with Nelaus… And set up something…!_

A woman was standing inside of a prison cell somewhere and looking out through the window at the surroundings of the prison complex while looking smug.

This woman was on her late 20s or early 30s and over a meter and eighty tall in height.

The woman had orange-colored hair which reached until the base of her neck and blue eyes irises which depicted malice: she had a smug smile to her face.

She wore a simple orange set of clothes which obviously was the prison clothes along with simple white shoes.

"By the way… Blondie! I know cha are here… Who do cha think was the one who invented stealth camo? I know the hum it emits and by looking intensely one can spot the edges of the figure…"

"Hmpf…"

Omega turned out his stealth camouflage and folded his arms while looking dry and impersonal: the woman didn't bother to turn and hummed _Let it Be_.

"Where's Twilight?"

"Don't worry, Blondie… The guy will soon show up with his new strategy and get me outta this turf for a lil while…"

"What do you intend to do with the other ones?"

"Who knows? Maybe start up a new club." She laughed.

"That can be done too easily and there's no need for this kind of strategy."

"Tee, heh, heh. Too bad. I'm not gonna tell cha anything! Not like a sexless robot like cha would get it."

"The same stunt of 2 years ago won't work."

"Who said we'd use the same stunt of 2 years ago, Blondie?"

"I've got that hunch."

"Ah! If ya meant what Twilight did to rescue that Yuriko gal… Nah! Same trick two times in a row is boring and means lack of imagination."

"Or of guts." Omega drily taunted.

"Guts Man is to blame, yeah."

"Grhzkt." He grumbled.

"Hit a vibe~?"

"Whatever."

"The everlasting ever."

"Huff. I thought Sigma was hard to bear but you…"

"Hah! My Din – Din – Din Curse is on the works."

"What "Din-Din-Din Curse"?"

"Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din!" She began to sing in a row.

"Ugrh! That repetitive melody is starting to drive me mad already!"

"That's why it's a curse." She laughed.

"Huff. So? What's the deal?"

"It's the non-deal of the dealer dealing Vincent "Red"."

"Don't tell me Vincent's involved."

"Who knows? Maybe he beats Decoy Octopus to disguising?"

"No way. Decoy Octopus went to the end of sucking up the blood of his targets like he did with the DARPA Chief."

"Maybe he's here? As a guard?"

"What would you gain from that? Getting the guy to smuggle you some Camel cigarettes?"

"Or maybe to smuggle Agent Camel here and have him confess if Akai Shuuichi's dead or alive." She laughed next.

"You mean File 700 which came out about 2 weeks ago, that scene where "Akai" walks past Camel from behind in the toilet."

"Oho. Vadous got cha hooked into the series?"

"Hmpf… It's not as childish as some think… And I know this week we have 702…"

"702 omens!"

"How funny."

"Maybe Holmes will come help ya?"

"Stop kidding. When is the guy going to show up? I've set jammers to block "DCs" days in advance."

"Who knows? Maybe when Laika's random protocol gets the dust blown off it?" She laughed.

"That was a trap to lure Forte into the Net Police databases way over 4 years ago. Speak."

"To speak, have you come to?"

"Nya~h! I'm starting to feel ANNOYED!"

"Feel frustrated and vent it off on the walls of Alcatraz. Maybe ya will awaken Al Capone's ghost for all cha know."

"Al Capone didn't die in Alcatraz."

"Ah! Forgot that. Well. Maybe it'll sink into the sea through a self-destruct device courtesy of Umbrella Inc.?"

"… You mean the end of the Battle City Chapter in _Yu-Gi-Oh_ when Kaiba Seto sunk the artificial island "Alcatraz" along with the Duel Tower."

"Bravo. Anime – sama."

"Che! Blood! Any anomalies?"

"None, sir."

"Sigma!"

"Nothing, sir! I'm in the lookout for those guys' signals but I've detected nothing in a 3 kilometer radius! We're keeping an eye on the skies too and on 3G and Wi-Fi carrier signals too. Right, Blood?"

"Yeah. By the way, sir… We were contacted by Meijin – san and he said he'd send Prism Man to reinforce us. He's on his way along with a "guest" as Prism Man called them."

"A guest? Maybe it's Blues or Search Man. Anyway. I'll stay here since Gate Man can't hope to face me. And even if Liquid shows up in person I can go into fist brawl because the guy won't risk shooting attacks with The Boss here."

"Tee, heh, heh. Yeah. I'm The Boss. And Marco is Big Boss."

"Maybe Solidus said that you're wearing too much make-up."

"Ni~h! That sneaky mouse! Running away from me two years ago…!"

"Hmpf… He knew better… And he made the wisest choice…"

There was a soft sound on the outside of something hitting the grass so Omega looked out: there was a hum followed by a shaft of light and then a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" showed up there.

"What? Ah! The "Duel Stages" Rama had designed for Net Navi use: the rascal got some and reconverted them into Duel Disks yet… They're still 3D images." Omega realized.

"I wonder 'bout that, Blondie."

"What?"

"Burst Stream of Destruction!"

The "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" opened the mouth and shot a burst stream which blew up the wall and hit Omega propelling him into the armored door: he growled as the woman ran and jumped into the back of the monster which began to fly off: a figure suddenly leapt into the cell from the outside.

"Omega. The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… die."

"The "Talon"! Darth Bapgei!"

"Die."

The "Talon" wore black leather clothes which covered his whole body including a hood with goggles: it design was reminiscent of an owl's face, even.

He carried a belt spanning from the right shoulder to the left flank of his body and which had sheaths for 6 knives: it included a medallion with the drawing of an owl close to the shoulder.

Other equipment included gauntlets: the right one had metallic armor shaped like an owl's face and the left one had some sheaths for smaller knives.

The guy carried leather boots as well and two knife sheaths attached to the belt's waist.

His gear included two short swords' sheaths attached to his back.

The guy shot four lead knives which plunged into Omega's torso and then drew both swords to rush for Omega while getting ready to seemingly cut Omega's neck but he used an Area Steal and appeared behind the guy who merely ran towards the door and ran up its surface before kicking off it and spinning upon the air while flinging both swords to spin at the same time forming an "X": Omega took out his saber and blocked them.

"How's that?"

The "Talon" merely continued spinning and kicked Omega's torso to bring him to the ground: they then used sharp claws attached to the boots to rip through the vest but Omega used Area Steal again to warp out and try to hit them with the hilt of the saber from behind: the "Talon" spun around and materialized a trident which they used to block the attempt: Omega quickly drew his gun and shot a plasma round which melted the upper part of the trident: the "Talon" merely flipped backwards and shot another group of knives which plunged into both shoulders: Omega growled and tried ignore the malfunctioning segments: the "Talon" then jumped off the hole into another "Blue-Eyes" and flew off while a third "Blue-Eyes" showed up.

"Last "Blue-Eyes"! Let that foolish ruined aristocrat listen to their "requiem"! Direct Attack to the Player! Burst Stream of Destruction!"

"Ugra~h!"

The blow hit Omega and he hit the door which got bent from the accumulated damage: the "Blue-Eyes" howled.

"Hmpf! A mouse is, after all, a mouse. They have no right to win over me, the king of animals! Heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah! Wah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

It dematerialized and Omega heard someone's footsteps running off: he rushed to the hole and spotted Gate Man rushing off through some holes cut in the fences and then dematerializing.

"By all the… Boss!"

"I saw it. Heck. I forgot about the guy's love for the rip-offs!"

"_Kyoudai_~… You lowlife only have a few years of life left, too!"

"Don't compare me to Snake, Twilight! I've got no programmed death!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Struggle in despair and hopelessness!"

"Shit. The damned smug bastard!"

17:47 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So they used Priest – sama's device…"

"Yeah… It'd seem the guy broke into the confiscated stuff warehouse and got one… We forgot about those…"

"Well. No – one's perfect, Mr. Meijin. Don't mind it too much, Annihilator Man…"

"I know, Priest – sama…"

"Ah. It's you. I've come back from Melbourne but no luck…"

"You're Zero."

"And you're Annihilator Man, the Navi of the former "Rama" leader…"

A Navi was standing in the Science Labs Cyber World and had been talking with Meijin when Zero came in.

Annihilator Man's face was colored in a teal brown color and his eyes' irises were a mix of purple and black.

His helmet's forehead had an eight-pointed black and white jewel set on it: three purple stripes travelled from behind to the front.

The Navi was colored white with some black spiral patterns travelling up the arms and legs.

He had two gun-like objects colored black and white respectively and connected to something on his back by thick tubes.

His hands had purple octahedron-shaped patterns on top of them.

His emblem was the _Kanji_ _hametsu_ (annihilation) colored white and set against a gray background plus having a purplish edge.

His feet's fingers ended in claw-like extensions.

He seemed to be close to two meters tall.

"So… The "Ice Queen" AKA Anaya Maria got freed once again: this is gonna be trouble with Capital T." Someone muttered.

"True, Priest – sama."

The Operator window opened but it only showed the _Kanji_ _shisai_ (Priest) colored purple and set against a black background.

"My Sentinels! My Kingdom for my Sentinels!" A cheery voice rang out in the background.

"Monitor. Some intruders stole data off the Library's servers. Regarding materialization of data…" "Priest" sighed.

"What! Vexation! Barbarians! What happened to the Sentinels?"

"They got lured by some commotion several hundred kilometers NNW of the Library, see."

"What! Ah! I must go to the scene and file a damage assessment!"

"Sorry for that. Spark has spent 100,000 years alone to begin with: it's no wonder he's begun to sing and say stuff aloud."

"_Halo_, huh… _Halo 3: ODST_ is scheduled to come out towards the end of this year's September… It's confirmed by now that it'll be a prequel to _Halo 3_ since it happens at the same time as _Halo 2_…" Meijin commented while sipping some coffee.

"Indeed. I'm looking forward to it."

"What were you saying about Installation 02 and 03? The Monitor numbers are 007 and 049." Guilty Spark asked.

"Nothing. Just wondering."

"Ah! Then it's no problem, true."

"We didn't say there was any trouble… Save for…" "Priest" sighed and brought up the earlier topic.

"I know, I know! I'm on the scene and I've begun the inspection: it was done in a very blunt manner! Yet they used a construct of their own to do the inside job, yes!"

"You sure need patience to bear with it." Zero commented.

"Guess it's because I want him to provide some comic relief…"

"At least it's not as worse as Sigma's jokes and the banners."

"The latest one was lame: Past let me know… "Of animals and Gods go the 12 Deadly Symbols!" … It's a lame joke on the Choina calendar."

"Sure is… We need Vadous to give them a scolding again…"

"Hexagon Blast!"

"Gate Man. Come back for more, huh?"

Gate Man showed up and shot six identical thick lasers towards Zero who bounced them off with his sword while Annihilator Man quickly moved to the right and seemed to get amused.

"May I make a demonstration, Priest – sama?"

"Target as little terrain as possible."

"As you desire. Annihilator Beam."

Both shoulder-mounted cannons hummed and began to produce white-colored and black-colored energy for a few seconds.

"Zero… Take the front…" He whispered.

"Fine… Oi. You. Hugo Gator wants his perfume back."

"W-what?" Gate Man growled.

"You stole it from his Davy Jones' locket."

"What the hell?"

"Captain Smith wants his u-boot back with a vengeance."

"T-this jerk! Go! Gate Soldiers!"

"Pray to the late Dr. Gate, I see."

"Nya~h!"

"Gate! Gate! Gate!"

"Too late."

Annihilator Man then brought his hands up and focused the particles there: they began to destroy each other and give way to an irregular sphere of white/grayish coloring: a small set of concentric rings formed around it as if to enclose it and left only one opening.

"Huh? What?" Gate Man gasped.

A focused beam which robbed the sphere of some of its mass hit the ground next to Gate Man and there was a white flash which blinded the whole area for a few seconds followed by a shockwave of heat and energy.

"Ugrah?"

A patch of ground about 30cm wide from side to side had been neatly deleted and the borders around it became raw data blocks: the edges were sharply ended and there was no blunt mark or hit like in normal attacks: it gave way to a deep pit.

"That goes straight to the Reverse Cyber World. I could've aimed at your feet and made you fall but this demonstration should be enough: I was holding back or else I could've deleted your whole body without a trace and without you being able to shoot it back.

"I-Impossible… Who are you lowlife?"

"Annihilator Man. Former Rama Chieftain."

"No way! I thought you lowlifes had been deleted!"

"Destruction Man said it: you're mistaking us for the FOD." "Priest" calmly told him.

"Amusing." Someone announced.

"Xon' Edos…"

"Huh! I feel a strong power from that guy… That guy's no joke… Remote Gate! I'll remember this, damn it! Cloud Man! You'll hear from me!"

"One mouse less."

"Do excuse me?"

"I mean… We forced them to flee."

"Ah. True."

Xon' Edos showed up and Gate Man escaped while cursing: he landed on the ground and Annihilator Man merely lifted his eyebrows while rubbing his chin with the right hand.

"So this is Xon' Edos… The alien Net Navi…"

"Indeed. I am but an observer. Yet I have been authorized to establish contact so as to gain further information and study events on the field to gain live data as well. Your "annihilation" capability has picked the interest of my Master and Mistress, already travelling towards the Centauri System by now… Yet, thanks to our faster-than-light transmissions we can keep each other informed every a few hours..."

"As long as it's just the Centauri System…" Omega came in while still looking annoyed but at least his wounds had been healed.

"Ah. I understand. It would not be a good thing if they were to stumble upon Duo yet the region Duo is at is so far, far away that chances are extremely slim. Our craft does not travel faster than light: only our transmissions can, yet… That is because they exploit a phenomenon to skip "normal" space and go through "another" space…"

"Hyper-space, huh." Omega muttered.

"Oh. So you have theorized it, I take it?"

"Yeah. A lot of sci-fi materials discuss that possibility."

"Interesting. Well. As I was saying… The gap is gigantic: even if they were to reach that region… That region is very wide, nevertheless… Duo could have reached the Centauri system by then… Of course: we are talking about several millennia…"

"Sure thing… Well. Let's try to quit the gloomy talk."

"Gloomy?"

"Depressing."

"Ah. True. It would be better to discuss another subject."

"Eh… Reclaimer Priest?"

"What's up, Spark?"

"What does "death sucks" mean?"

"What the… That's gotta be one of them… Sorry. See: I edited my Halo 3 game and used textures from Halo: CE to improve a better Installation and installed it on a server… It's like an MMORPG's world, see? It turns out Cloud Man has hacked into it and altered the "Library" map."

"Hmpf. The idiot… "Death sucks"… Oh yeah? Look who talks: they've been bragging non-stop about the advantages of being "ghosts"."

"While, in truth… Their current status is but that of their consciousness programs directly uploaded into the Cyber World itself as clusters of data transmissions… And one program they include is that of projecting a 3D image of their selves… Am I correct?" Xon' Edos detailed.

"Sure. That's how it works. It's been about one year… The DNN Studios takeover… "Sky-fall"… The battles were hard and in the end Twilight escaped… We located his hideout some months ago but escaped and now is lingering somewhere in Melbourne…"

"I did hear he organized some incident."

"Well. Yeah. He rescued his old Mistress and we still dunno what the hell he's plotting by gathering all those criminals… But we can't lower the guard nevertheless… Speaking of guard: your craft has anti-intruder systems?" Omega asked.

"Ah! It does. Yes, yes. I did foresee those ones trying to force their way in, yes… Nevertheless… I have only been here for about over 7 local "months"… I still have a lot to learn… Well. I shall be going."

"See ya… And now… Time to start up the hunt… Let's go, Zero."

"Yeah… Damned Twilight. What's the freak up to?"

22:52 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Tee, heh, heh. This robe makes me feel like a Sith Lady."

"Truly, IQ – sama. Maybe like Darth Maladi? She was an expert at torturing, ma'am."

"Why not… The chick had some looks, true… But I was rather thinking of Darth Talon, the fearless fighter… I liked it that the One Sith gave women Sith prominent roles… Palpatine had Mara Jade and Lumiya as agents but these new Sith are cool."

"Indeed… We have reached Issue 38, _Tatooine, Part 2_…"

"38 issues… In how much time?"

"Ever since June, 2006…"

"Not bad… It's been 3 years and we've had 38 issues insofar: at this rate I guess we've still got one more year to go… Don't spoil me, though!"

"Roger."

Anaya Maria, the woman Twilight had rescued hours earlier, was sitting on one of the sofas and chatting with him as he stood up and bowed.

She simply wore a black unadorned tunic with a lowered hood which covered her arms and legs yet it could be seen that she had black leather gloves and boots on.

"Bapgei~… Fu Manchu's despicable grandson will come to try best ya when it comes to assassinating, see~…" Cloud Man laughed in the first floor.

"Oho. Fu Manchu's despicable grandson… That's a first." Anaya laughed ad it.

"I am sorry for their nonsense, ma'am."

"Bah! Let 'em be. I'm so random myself, too… Tee, heh, heh. By the way: just what happened with Nelaus last summer? What went wrong?"

"We went too far with the acting: he began to realize it."

"Ah! And thus it looked like we were laughing at his intelligence and treating like him a throw-away fool…?"

"Indeed, ma'am. It'd seem the visit to Ms. Millionaire was one trigger, the encounter with Hikari and Rock Man was another and our mania to make a light deal out of everything was another… He began to snoop and he was eventually approached by IQ – sama's former godfather…"

"My damned godfather…! I knew the type wasn't an idiot but I wasn't expecting the guy to approach Nelaus like that…"

"It couldn't be helped. We thought it was _kyoudai_ so we let him go try and tackle the challenge thinking he'd just try out how he fared in a Net Battle and pull out… And we were in the DNN Studios by then, too, ma'am."

"Huff. And what did those two tell the guy in the Electel Mansion showdown, anyway?"

"It was more like what Blood Shadow said: they didn't hate him because he hadn't done anything worth earning hatred."

"Fine~… So, in short… He felt like we were treating him like an idiot and began to realize who he was really dealing with so he quit before we could place a tight leash on him… Che." She fumed.

"I am afraid so."

"Whatever. Freeze some _ramen_."

"That reminds me… When I took over Nebula in the "other" Time-Space I did joke about cold _ramen_… And I did joke about Cold Man cooling all _ramen_ in the city too…"

"… And then M hits the bomb with the gong's stick and the grandson utters "I knew it! I knew it! I KNEW IT!"… "Author's Note: Choina-made bomb"… In short: poor quality bomb! It exploded and sent him back flying to his grandfather's harbor turf… Where punishment was imposed!"

"He got his head cut off." Bapgei calmly guessed.

"Worse!"

"Whipped 100 times in a row."

"No! Forced to see a silly Spanish chit-chat TV program enough to drive you mad 20 times in a row…!"

"Huff. Guess he did go mad. I'd preferred being whipped to that."

"Mwah, hah, hah. The lesser of two evils, eh?"

"Sure thing…"

"Well. Guess I should get on the move and bring out those skills of mine which have been rusting for 4 years… But the others will likely not pick on that: I'm like a Goddess to those gals. Tee, heh, heh." She calmly stood up and stretched.

"Yes, ma'am. As you desire. All has been arranged."

"Good. Finish the preparations for the D-Day. It's in 2 days from today, right?"

"Yes. All will be ready by midday, local time."

"Oh yeah. Have Leo and Ryuuto struggle a bit: send 'em to fight some Duel Monsters and sweat, will ya?"

"Delighted. Milverton must be about to sell his soul to the Great Evil God in exchange for more screen-time, too. Heh, heh, heh."

Anaya giggled and walked off while Twilight sat down and chuckled under his breath.

"Soon… What we have been arranging for… All the effort will prove to be worth it… Let the party begin… Even if it only lasts a few hours… All's ready: Bapgei and I can easily change addresses… And it'll leave some sequels in _kyoudai_, too… I'll prove that the guy's "security" has more holes than a sinking ship… Heh, heh, heh."

"And then Fu-Manchu will end up cleansing the Great Wall with a nail brush! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!" Cloud Man laughed.

_Alright… Let the games begin… Less than 48 hours from now…! Hah!_


	10. Chapter 10: Welcome to the party

**Chapter 10: Welcome to the party**

09:09 AM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 10th…

"… Fua~h… When will I find a hot chick?"

"Charlie~… Focus on piloting."

"I know, Gyro Man!"

"Did you properly dispatch the flight plan?"

"Jeez. How many years do ya think we've been at it? 4! I've met all kind of VIPs and such but all the chicks were too cold or queen-like."

"Try the surface."

"I've visited tens of discos, too!"

"Save Disco Volcano."

"What?"

"It's a joke, man."

"Jeez, Gyro Man!"

"My bad."

A guy was piloting a two-seater chopper and flying over a district of Akihara Town while chatting with his Navi.

The pilot was on his late 20s or early 30s: he had blonde hair and brown irises.

He was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with cyan dots and patterns on it, a red scarf, a teal brown coat wrapped around his waist, jeans and brown boots along with smoke sunglasses over his eyes plus gloves.

He looked sleepy and defeatist.

"Gyro Man! You wouldn't have been plotting behind me to ruin my fun, would you?"

"Come on, Charlie…"

Gyro Man, the Navi, was projecting atop the control console with a miniature hologram like the one in a Link PET.

This Navi could be over a meter and sixty tall maybe closer to a seventy in height and his main color was bright yellow.

His overall body shape was that of a man-helicopter hybrid: his face's "skin" was a dull brownish tone: his eyes were plain cyan pyramid-like shapes aiming downwards with black edges surrounding them: two black stripes ran down in a parallel manner down his face marking the boundary between the section with the nose and mouth and the rest of the face.

Their helmet a reddish front with a curved black vertical cavity having a small yellow dot set there: the rest of it was yellow in color and his ear-pads' edges were black in color: two white circles split by thin lines were drawn there.

Their upper chest included a protruding windshield shape which meant to be the front of the chopper: their shoulders had yellowish "X" letters over black backgrounds set on them.

Their arms had a stretch of grayish "skin" and ended in a round base: a bright thin band marked the boundary between both sections: the forearms were yellow in color and they covered the top of the hands: a white extension looking like a chopper's skids' was attached to the outer side of each arm.

The lower body was unarmored and simply had blackish "skin" over it: some device was set on his crotch before the legs began: they were attached to the sides of the body as if wanting to remind the viewer that that they were mechanical: the upper part of them was colored yellow but there was a white stretch stopping at the knees: a bluish stripe marked the spot where the knees would be at: the legs were very thin and included some outer flaps close to the ankles: a white circle with a blue ring inside of it was set on the middle of the foot frame while a white stripe travelled across its length.

As if it was essential, a four-blade-rotor had been attached to a yellow protruding piece of armor set on his back.

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Welcome to the show of doom and death!"

"What's that? Some joke, Gyro Man?"

"No. The voice rang out _behind_ ya, Charlie."

"Don't say nonsense! I'm the only one onboard."

"Gate Curse!"

"Uwa~h!"

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

"N-Net Navi~? In the real world? That's impossible!"

"Charlie… Ya haven't been paying attention, have ya…? It's become possible ever since 4 years ago." Gyro Man sighed.

"Now! Behold!"

"Behold… What?"

"Go, Legion 64!"

"Metto~!"

"W-w-w-w-whoa~! Where did these guys come from? Uack! Get off me, you lot! Ugh! Grah! Nyargh!"

"G-Gyro Man!" The pilot gasped.

"Hmpf… Charleston Airstar… The Court of Choppers has sentenced you to… retire!" Gate Man chuckled.

"_Charlie_ Airstar, not Charleston!"

"You didn't graduate in College of Charleston?"

"Wha? No!"

"Then retire! Hah!"

THUD!

"Uack!"

"Let go of me! They're burying me! Ugrah!"

"Now… I'll take over the controls and get as close as possible to the point: if Twilight – sama's expected phenomenon happens then… We can execute the main strategy…"

Gate Man knocked Airstar out with a _judo_ strike using the right hand flank and then he shoved the guy to the right seat to sit down and grip the controls as the Mettools buried Gyro Man under them and kept on attacking the guy.

"I'm starting the descent… ETA: 2 minutes…"

"Good. I've set a camera to keep an eye out: we'll soon know if my hypothesis is right. If not… We'll use the B method. It'll work: nothing can go wrong at this stage."

"Roger…"

The chopper began to descend and get closer to the houses until it stopped almost next to the Hikari house: Gate Man chuckled and stopped it in mid-air to look out.

"Now…"

He placed Airstar in the pilot seat and in a pose to make it look like he was piloting before dematerializing and entering the Cyber World: he brought up imagery of a camera and did see both Netto and Saito rush out from their home using the skates while looking afraid: they rushed down the street and two men who'd been onboard a car and seemed to be security detail climbed out, surprised.

"1&2: on the move."

"Good… The remaining 4 have been assembled by now… I'm heading to the scene myself… Retrieve the Legion 64 and get back."

"Roger… Heh, heh, heh…"

_You fell for the trap, Net Saviors!_ Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…

09:51 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff, huff… Is the underground refuge entrance locked?"

"The main one sure is… And the side one also is… This place should be safe enough…! Damn it! Atomic Network, come to try again…!"

"Yeah…! Luckily we ran away on time before they could shoot at us!"

"What's wrong?"

"Huh! Arushi from B Class…!"

"W-well…"

Netto and Saito had gotten inside of an underground refuge somewhere while panting and looking both scared and annoyed when they met with a student.

Arushi had brown messy hair and blue eyes.

He could be about the twins' age.

He sported a simple reddish t-shirt with no drawings on it, brown shorts with a brown leather belt, and sandals.

"Did you come to the surprise Higureya lottery?"

"Surprise Higureya lottery?" Both asked.

"Hi there! Netto – kun. Saito – kun."

"Whoa. Tooru – kun: you came, too?"

"Yeah. I sent Ice Man to play with Aqua Man."

Tooru came out of another room and so did Nelaus who looked slightly surprised by now.

"Wow. This is gonna one hell of a lottery, I guess."

"We found Chip Trade machines but they were locked with a padlock: there was a note from Higure – san saying he'd be right here but before he wanted to prove to Masa – san he's a "shinning man"…" Isaac laughed.

"Guess Miyabi will have to split them off before they get to each other's throats." Netto grinned.

"Sure… Knowing those two… Maybe Masa – san will bombard him with tuna and say that it's calcium."

"Or maybe he'll bring out his Commander Beef alter-ego and claim he'll protect Mariko – sensei from villain like him." Tooru laughed.

"That Masa guy seems to be the local comic relief guy ranking below Mr. Higure." Nelaus grinned.

"Huff. He played the old-timer who knew nothing of modern tech."

"And his weapon is a fish's skeleton."

"Maybe he can use that to remember he needs to fish codfish."

"Fish codfish, eh?" Arushi liked the pun.

"By the way: why did you rush here?"

"Thing is…" Netto began.

"Atomic Network is back for more!"

"What!" They all gasped.

"No kidding! They tried the chopper thing again but we ran off just in time: we picked this place because we thought it'd be safe. The Cyber World security is very high, after all."

"Weird. Don't you think we'd gotten a warning if Plasma Man had managed to escape the Navi Prison?" Nelaus argued.

"The guy could've left a hologram behind for all we know!" Netto argued back.

"Trap Card, Activate! Terror Gas! All Monsters are unable to attack for the next 3 Turns! Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

They all gasped as they suddenly began to feel dizzy and they began to collapse one after the other in ground, unconscious…

08:58 AM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Tee, heh, heh. All's set. Start some rock-like BGM!"

"Roger."

"Let's see! Cha. Prophetess."

"Yes, Queen – sama?"

"Pick Number One."

"Roger."

"Witch! Number Two."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Viper, my dear… Go for Number Three."

"Delighted…"

"Heart! I know what cha desire. Number Four's all yours."

"Thank you very much!"

"Bella… Number Five."

"Roger."

"Lastly… Number Six is mine's!"

_Huh…? Saito – niisan… Huh… What happened…?_

Netto began to slowly regain consciousness and realized that he had a black bag covering his head: he was standing on his feet somewhere and began to try to feel his surroundings.

_What the hell… I've got S&M gear on me…! Including ass vibrator, nipples vibrators, clothes pegs on my nipples and balls, a small leather belt on the base of my cock, urethra beads and a cock head vibrator too…! This bag has an opening but my mouth is muffled by a ball-gag… My ankles have a spreader bar on them too… My forearms are locked together and there's a chain making them be pulled towards the ceiling hence why I'm standing!_

Netto suddenly gasped as he felt a thick and dot-filled strap-on violently penetrate him followed by a blow to his balls from below using what seemed to be a baseball bat: he inwardly groaned and swung a bit but he couldn't change his pose.

_Damn it! I get it now! Why Twilight rescued the Desert Wraiths and Anaya…! Anaya! The madwoman! She set it up: a mass _dominatrix_ rape party! And one of them is fucking me… Who? Wait! I heard Hidden Heart and back in the winter she wanted niisan so… Maybe it's Bella. They mentioned Prophetess and Witch, the two gals who quit "Rama" and went independent… The ones Zero had been chasing… I guess Anaya herself picked Nelaus… And I suspect they materialized Isaac to rape him as well…! Che! What psychos! But that blow was no joke…!_

"Tee, heh, heh. Remember me, Hikari Netto? It's me, Bella…"

_I knew it._

"My Mistress is teaching some lessons to your _sex partner_."

_Damn it. Viper picked Tooru – kun. _

"Tee, heh, heh. Witch – san picked that Isaac fellow."

_And Prophetess is raping Arushi …! Tooru – kun told me through Eboshi – kun… That Arushi is the real ID of "Past", the lone hunter who'd been chasing clubs and S&M villains… And who found Twilight here, in Melbourne, back in last year's autumn… I dunno if Twilight figured it out or not and thus thought it'd be the greatest humiliation for him…!_

"Did you feel the baseball bat?"

_Sure as Hell._ He inwardly cursed.

"There's more!"

She suddenly pulled out and stepped back: Netto closed his eyes and seemed to guess what came next.

TCHACH!

_Ugrhk! I knew it! A whip, damn it! The cat-o'-nine-tails!_

"Sure thing! It's a genuine cat-o'-nine-tails! It's going to leave its mark on you… And according to IQ – sama… Bring the temptation of the Dark Side!"

_You mean the "Crisis" AKA being Forte's hostage over 4 years ago. He wanted to know why Rock Man was missing a fourth of his Ultimate Program and his consciousness so he both spoiled me and tried to force me to confess through using a taser or a whip… But I don't have a grudge over what he did because Twilight lured the guy into doing that and trying to start a war… The fucker. The jerk's surely here, sneering at it!_

"Twilight – sama remained upstairs: he's busy trying to divert all search efforts elsewhere… And we've got plenty of genuine machines here to make you feel like never before… We managed to rebuild Hidden Heart's "pool" too… You never tried it? You'll feel like never before: I promise ya~!" She giggled.

_Hell. That pool thing… It looked like the ultimate S&M torture device and we were glad we never had to experience it…_

"Let's start with you."

_No!_

Bella released the hook on the chain which locked both forearms and he dropped face-down into the ground: Bella then attached a chain to the leather collar's ring and pulled it to force him to walk on his knees and drag across the ground while his forearms were placed behind his back and he couldn't unlock them.

"Tee, heh, heh. Here! Hop!"

She suddenly stopped and picked him to carry him over her right shoulder as if he was a package or something: she jumped down into a lower level and placed Netto face-up atop a metallic surface slightly inclined: she closed some leather restrains over the legs and the torso and the arms to keep him strapped there.

_No! Anything but this! I'll go mad! I prefer the baseball bat to this: I can tolerate pain! No!_

"Tee, heh, heh. Plead, pray!"

_Damned rascal!_

"Up I go and let's start it up."

There were some hums and Netto began to feel some jets of pressurized warm water striking his body from different angles: Bella had also removed the clothes pegs.

_These jets are to keep me awake, I guess…!_

He heard some mechanical sounds and noticed two plastic cylinders with a round membrane around their end landing on his nipples and starting to spin clockwise and anti-clockwise while rubbing against his skin: the insides of the tube had some rubber on them which tightened around his nipples and rubbed against them.

_Uwah! T-these things…! Too much…! The clothes pegs are one thing but these…! Uwa~h!_

"Now…"

Bella dropped down and suddenly lifted the vibrator while taking out the urethra beads but leaving the belt on.

_Huh! Don't tell me that…!_

He tried to arch his body but couldn't move an inch even: he then felt a thinner rod entering his urethra and starting to spin inside of his cock while its rubber material rubbed against the insides of his cock: he arched his head backwards.

_It's going to tear it apart from the inside~! No~! No more~! I prefer the horse or the column to this thing!_

Next came another two cylinders which were stuffed into his ass and they began to spin at different directions while rubbing against his insides: he was drooling by now.

"Tee, heh, heh. Someone here has come to have you do something useful with your mouth, see~!"

_Damn it. It's gotta be Darth Bapgei._

He felt the sound of someone stepping over shallow water and then his ball-gag was removed as his head was lifted: a cock got into his mouth while two hands gripped his head and set a pace.

"Feel the despair." Darth Bapgei taunted in English.

_Go tuna! _Netto inwardly grumbled.

"… Ah! Welcome, dear… We were waiting for you, dear… Don't be afraid: come in, come in…"

_Huh? They brought someone else?_

"Hmm… Yeah. This one. This one's a veteran so… Have fun. You can later drag them into the column, too… Yeah… They're all part-timers who like this deal and wanna earn some salary…"

_An outsider…? But who…? Wait a minute… I see! It's Aura – chan: she got tricked by Anaya into believing this is a legal club… And since she seemed to want to test out the deal… She thinks that if we find this out Nelaus will hate her and she will go to Anaya's side for refuge… But we're not that idiotic, Anaya! Nelaus will not hate her for being tricked. He will pretend nothing happened._

"Here… Eat…"

_You'll be the one eating some _judo_ when this is over, Bapgei! Your acrobatics won't help you there! That I promise! They look like some Cirque du Soleil imitation to begin with! Hah!_

Bapgei released inside of Netto's mouth and replaced the ball-gag: he then seemingly climbed out.

_Ugh! And they'll leave for hours on end being tortured by this weird machine thing! These rascals! Cowards! If you've got some guts then face me in a brawl! I won't lose in a brawl! I can't feel Saito – niisan: Twilight must've jammed our link..! But I'll be strong… Like in that "endurance" adventure of 4 years ago…! If you thought this was gonna leave permanent sequels on me then… Think again! _

09:14 AM (Melbourne Time)…

_Damn it. Here comes my nightmare again…! I was raped by a _dominatrix_ woman in early 2008, in Kobe… Priest – sama found out about what happened to me and granted me the means to wage war to these damned cowards…! From their talk I know that the guy whose back is glued to me is Hikawa – kun…! And now they're hitting our balls with ping-pong rackets to torture us…! What cowards!_

Arushi was inwardly cursing as he'd been sat on a triangular wooden horse with a metallic top edge and having two thick vibrators built on it witch each one spinning in different directions: he could feel someone else's back glued to him and their bodies tied together by ropes plus being hit in the balls by a ping-pong racket.

"So! Boba Feet! How does it feel like? Tee, heh, heh. Been a while, eh, Past? I guess ya remember me, I take it?"

_Prophetess…! You tricked Priest – sama to get into Rama and then you quit when you went over the line and raped a civilian…! So you're the reason I got dragged into this damned masquerade to begin with! _

"Tee, heh, heh. That Viper gal is good at it, too… Crushing that brunette boy's balls over and over again… Let's tune it a bit."

_Shit. I know what's coming!_

Arushi inwardly groaned as he felt how drops of hot wax began to fall across his chest and body: Prophetess gripped his cock and placed it horizontally to let the wax fall atop its length and slide down in: she then began to drop some across his back as well and Arushi struggled in vain since he was totally trapped into the machine.

"Tee, heh, heh. There's more AND MORE!"

_What can be worse than this? Shit!_

"This taser will make your cock dance over and over again! It'll keep you awake as well: you must feel the whole of it!"

_Shit! Ugrak!_

_Arushi – kun…! So that bad person torturing you was a former pal of yours who betrayed "Rama"…? What a selfish person! "Rama" didn't seek to inflict real harm: they challenged us to improve our skills and be ready to tackle the next crisis…! Which we're doing… I heard that the whole UFO deal is about to be closed down…!_

"Yo! Don't daydream, kiddo! I'm gonna make you feel more pain than you could ever imagine!"

_I don't like the tone of that Viper villain…! Viper…! Fits them alright!_

"Tee, heh, heh."

Viper gripped Tooru's cock and strapped four more vibrators to the sides of it while dropping wax on his balls: Tooru began to drool as he struggled in vain.

_No more…! I'm a good masochist but this is my limit! I'm going to lose consciousness at this rate…!_

"Tee, heh, heh. Not enough? Here you have more!"

She began to clip metallic pegs on his balls while adding a small weight to them to pull them and inflict pain: Tooru's drool accentuated and he seemed to slowly become overwhelmed.

_Damn it! Is there no end to this madness?_

"And now… Tee, heh, heh."

TCHACH!

_Ugrah! My torso!_

"And now this!"

THACH!

_Shit. This thing has thorns on it and it's coiled around my penis while also digging into the skin…! No more…! Please…!_

"Tee, heh, heh. When there were some teen delinquents in Dark Land I took care of teaching them some lessons… I'll sit back and watch!"

09:27 AM (Melbourne Time)…

"… That's it, dear! Pull those strings: they yearn for it… For you to pull their balls' skin… And in the meanwhile to be pumped relentlessly by the column device… Witch there is having fun with the other… No! No need to say anything, dear…"

_Shit. So this is the famed column and I've been officially raped. What a morning. No wonder they told me this is no joke. This thing pumping into your ass without stop is enough to drive you mad along with these vibrations and having my balls' skin pulled…! That Witch villain is now torturing Isaac right behind me, too…!_

Nelaus was also inwardly cursing as he'd been made to sit crouched and tied to the metallic column which a piston having two vibrators which spun pumped at a very fast rate in and out of his ass: he also felt how some small metallic rings like earrings had been clipped to his balls' skin and someone was pulling the strings connected to them thus inflicting him pain.

_I can't blame Aura – chan: she got tricked because ex-Boss must've known that she'd wanted to experience what _dominatrix _was about: I won't mention it and even if she realizes and comes to apologize I'll quickly tell her there's no need. She got fooled. Ex-Boss…! If you're thinking of splitting us… Think again! We're not idiots. We won't fall for such a dime soap opera plot: Fu-Manchu would laugh at it._

"Yes, my dear… Go harder! Don't mind it: they love this. It's their way of feeling alive! There's no need to hold it back… You'll soon come to like this, I promise you…" She kept on whispering.

_Now you wanna act like you were a sorcerer? Maybe ya wanna imitate Saruman the White and his power to delude people through his very words, huh? You can't do better than that?_

"Keep on, keep on… Tee, heh, heh."

_Keep on dreaming, ex-Boss… You'll soon be back in New Orleans and barking at your ex-lover… Hmpf… _

_Ugh! So this is what being sexually tortured means. I'm sure that Nelaus is the one behind me… And this gal named Witch is the one hitting my balls with a knotted rope to inflict overwhelming pain to me…! But I won't yield to this! If Hikari and Rock Man could undergo it then I can, too. Dream on and then go collect lilies! The Subspace will definitely find us: we've got enough extra hands to deal with any decoys or distractions elsewhere which you might've sprouted._

"Tee, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… This is enough to make tough newbie guys submit to obedience… But it'd seem you're a diehard half-breed even: this will be worth my time and effort… Here!"

_Ugh! She's using the heel of her right boot to crush my balls next: it's digging into my skin…! And it comes along with drops of hot wax: that talk of making guys submit was no joke but…! Ugh! No! I can't be defeatist here or they'll win! _

"Stubborn and diehard, aren't cha, half-breed?"

_Stop calling me like I was a dog or a cat or a horse. That reminds me of that French comic book series named Tintin… There's one named "The Red Sea Sharks" where it tells about a complot to smuggle work slaves through cargo ships… And the keyword for that is "coke"… Captain Haddock and co. meet with one of the examiners and Haddock calls for his attention after seeing him examine one would-be slave… "Here, have you quite finished playing the cattle-dealer? This man's not a horse, nor a slave…!"… "Ssh! You mustn't say that! "Coke", is the word as you well know!"… "Coke! Blistering barnacles! Tintin was right! There are still slave-traders! And that's what you're up to! You brute!"… What did he say next? Ah! Yeah, yeah… "You trafficker in human flesh! You deserve to be strung up on the mizzen yardarm! You cut-throat, you! You're lucky I don't stuff your beard down your gullet! But get out… viper! And take care that you don't cross my path again!" Hmpf… That's what I'd love to tell them…_

"Not enough, eh? Whatever… There's still plenty of time! Eat wax!"

Witch hit his balls again while plunging the heel on them and used the wax.

_Not enough, you villain… Try harder… And be defeated! Hmpf!_

_Shit. I ended up in the table thing and Hidden Heart is delivering blows using Golden Fists Battle Chips. It hurts like hell. And this piston pumping into me isn't funny either…! _

Saito had been set face-up on a wooden table and had his arms and legs spread as he felt a piston with two spinning vibrators pumping into him relentlessly while Hidden Heart also delivered punches to his balls: he inwardly groaned.

"Let's provide some background _education_… Tee, heh, heh!"

_What background education_?

"… Sheer off, filibuster! Out of my sight, you gallows bird! Baboon! Carpet-seller! Paranoiac! Pockmark! Cannibal! Duck-billed platypus! Jellied-eel! Bashi-bazouk! Anthropophagus! Cercophitecus! Psychopath! Pirate! Ectoplasm! Coelacanth! Vulture! Body-snatcher! Ostrogoth! Vandal!"

_Isn't that Captain Haddock of the Tintin comic books? I knew he had some colorful language, but, really… "Body-snatcher"… It feels like it fits all-too-well with this situation! Ugrh! I can't escape from the continuous pain but I won't let it dominate me._

"Tee, heh, heh. Vulture… Too bad the fellow lacked talent." Bella giggled close by.

"Sure, Bella." Hidden Heart laughed.

_Is this stupid show gonna end? Vadous – san will come unleashing his anger and all these villains will start to tremble. I know the newcomer is Aura – chan: but I'm not surprised. If she thought we wouldn't realize it then Anaya is very mistaken on it… But we won't blame her for what she's doing 'cause she's been tricked by this Worm-Tongue wannabe._

"Tee, heh, heh. Not enough, Rock Man? Whatever… Once I place you in my pool… You'll lose all will to fight back, just like your Operator!"

_I don't believe Netto – kun lost the will to fight back. He'll endure whatever that damned machine does… And your hours are limited, you villains!_

"Tee, heh, heh!"

09:51 AM (Melbourne Time)…

"… So, Freeze Man?"

"All is going as scheduled. We lured those guys 30 km SSE of here, Twilight – sama… It's a zone full of clubs and such and spread the rumor of a hidden basement…"

"Excellent. Gate Man. Anything odd?"

"Not really, _Danna_…"

"I told Bapgei to go back and get to the 3rd house I bought and arranged in advance. It may look lame to play hide and seek with _kyoudai_ for this long but well… I like this city: it's got plenty of houses and such…"

"Of course…"

DZING! TCHACH!

"What the…? A fish skeleton made of metal flew through the window and got stabbed into the sofa!"

"What?"

"Beef! Commander Beef!"

"Masked Black Rose!"

"Miyumiyu."

"Shark Man: on the scene!"

"Hrum! Wood Man's appearance!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Skull Man skulls 'em."

"What in the… You lot…! The Net Agents…! Thought they'd retired…!"

"A true man never retires! Ya didn't eat enough calcium!"

Twilight had been working with the laptop and checking on Gate Man and Freeze Man when a metallic fish skeleton broke through the main window and stabbed the sofa: the Net Agents got in through the kitchen.

"By all the…"

SLAM!

"Rama's come."

"Damn it! Rama too!"

"Present."

Present, Axe Man's Operator, was over a meter and eighty tall.

Their hair was blond and they sported sunglasses as well: they looked serious and might be been close to its thirties.

They wore a navy blue biker coat with long sleeves and had the hands stuffed on the pockets.

They also wore biker jeans and black leather boots.

The _Kanji_ _genzai_ (present) was drawn in green and vertically across both sides of the coat.

The Link PET of this person was colored purple and yellow: its symbol was the _Kanji_ _ono_ (axe) colored forest green and set against a white-colored background.

"Future~!"

Future looked slightly over a meter and seventy tall or maybe slightly taller.

He person had sunglasses on, too, and his hair was brown and messy.

They wore a brown raincoat which had the _Kanji mirai _(future) draw vertically on both sides and colored fuchsia.

They sported a large black leather double-row belt with a boomerang and a set of keys attached to it.

The palms were covered by strap-affixed black-colored half-a-capsule-shaped plastic objects with a red circle set atop them.

They sported black leather boots as well.

Their Link PET's colors were black and magenta: the symbol was the _Kanji_ _hakai_ (destruction) colored metallic gray and drawn over an azure background.

"Priest."

He had a hood and veil hid most of his face and he had sunglasses on, too.

He looked slightly over a meter and sixty tall and wore crimson robes with the _Kanji shisai_ (priest) written over the chest.

He also seemed to sport white sneakers and black fingerless gloves.

His PET was black with a purple edge and having Annihilator Man's emblem on it.

"Mugro~h! Sorry for riding in _Danna_'s PET but…"Balrog told Annihilator Man.

"Don't mind it."

"Materialize!"

Shark Man, Wood Man, Skull Man, Axe Man, Balrog, Destruction Man and Annihilator Man formed inside of the living room and surrounded Twilight who gasped and got to his feet but not before pressing the "RETURN" key and making an alarm ring out in the basement: he then smirked and rubbed his hands in excitement,.

"Battle Form! Gate Man! Quick! Take the PC! Freeze Man: erase all the data on the Wi-Fi! Now!"

"Roger!"

"I'll delete all of you in one attack! Battle Form!"

Blackish energy formed around Yoru Yami's body as data began to form over his body (similar to a "Cross Fusion") and the sphere's thickness soon hid his form.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Don't take the guy lightly." Priest warned.

"Acknowledged."

The light faded away to reveal that he'd gained a Navi – like appearance over his previous "human" appearance.

This form's design was highly reminiscent of Rock Man's one.

He wore a helmet with a mouth guard activated: his eyes' irises were visible and it could be seen that they were colored crimson red.

His chest emblem consisted on just two shades of black and white split by a horizontal grey line: he had two curious shoulder pads which were shaped as two split halves of a diamond: his main body's color was navy blue although the forearms and his boots were colored in purple.

A black smooth cape hung from the back of his shoulders and reached all the way to the floor as well as an add-on to his bodysuit.

"That _kyoudai_ mouse… Due to the battle damage a year ago… I lost several of the abilities I'd copied from the guy… But it doesn't matter: I have enough with my hands to delete you all!"

"Axe Raid!"

"Bing Bang Punch!"

"Light Laser!"

"Fin Cutter!"

"Bone Stalker!"

"Woody Tower!"

"Flame Whip!"

"Trap Card! Evil Barrier: Dark Force! Mwah, hah, hah!"

Twilight formed a pale brown bubble around him which deflected all attacks and his body began to glow.

"Come!"

"Let's go~!"


	11. Chapter 11: Mouse

**Chapter 11: Mouse**

10:02 AM (Melbourne Time), Thursday August the 10th…

"… Simultaneous attacking! Operators: get out!"

"Roger!"

"Axe Raid!"

"Bing Bang Punch!"

"Light Laser!"

"Fin Cutter!"

"Bone Stalker!"

"Woody Tower!"

"Flame Whip!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Substitute! Self-Destruct!"

"What!"

Twilight suddenly formed a "Substitute" which was a "Sidon" Pokémon and it used the "Self-Destruct" Move: it exploded and the explosion set the furniture on fire for real, even: Wood Man shielded his two pals and Axe Man did the same but Wood Man got his body on fire.

"Aqua Tower!" Shark Man gasped.

The Aqua Tower put out the flames but then two short swords plunged through his body from behind and through his chest emblem: he groaned and collapsed on his knees as the Talon became visible: he quickly ran up a wall and kicked himself away from it to then shoot several knives at Skull Man's torso and which plunged into his chest emblem too: he groaned and grumbled.

"Bone Stalker!"

He shot both bones towards the Talon but he simply dropped to the ground on his fours to dodge.

"Fin Cutter!"

"Mwah, hah, hah… Don't forget me or you'll end up in trouble! "Destruction Beam"! Go~!"

Twilight suddenly showed up and shot the "Destruction Beam" at Destruction Man but he grinned.

"Fat chance, gramps!"

"Wha~t?"

Destruction Man's chest compartments opened and he created what seemed to be a black hole-like phenomenon which made the Destruction Beam break down into data and then be shot out from his chest instead: it hit Twilight head-on and then Axe Man delivered a blow from his axe horizontally followed by two lasers, colored white and purple, from Annihilator Man which pierced through his cape: he groaned and formed two Giga Count Bombs PAs which he threw at them but they swiftly intercepted them: Destruction Man 's fists glowed with red energy until they looked like molten metal and he shot forward with his boots' jets: he hit Twilight in the back and the blow seemed to momentarily stun his CNS: Destruction Man chained a kick to the back and the guy ended up in the ground.

"Wanna more?"

"Damn it. Don't look down on _daimaou_ Twilight!" He growled.

"Ganondorf wasn't that big of a deal either!"

"Twilight! Can cha hear me? Ya gotta make it outta this place: else the show can't continue!" Anaya commanded over the radio.

"By thou will!"

"Che. Those guys are here along with some robots which shoot lasers!"

"Heck. Sentinels…!"

"Nobody move! You are detained for violation of containment protocols: the Sentinels will make sure you do not escape!"

"Che! Damned machines! Their numbers are too big even for Bella, Witch or Hidden Heart!"

"Time to nap." Priest's voice announced.

There was a beep and some THUD sounds: Anaya gasped.

"What! The 3 Navis got knocked out! How?"

"I emitted a control signal which tricked their safety system into entering emergency hibernation. But I guess that since Isaac uses a different type of data clusters then it doesn't affect him… Quick! Let's free them! Spark: make sure those trespassers don't move an inch!"

"Leave it to me, Reclaimer!"

"Grrr… I'll cut you to pieces!"

Twilight drew two light-sabers colored red and purple and headed for Axe Man: he simply stepped back while Annihilator Man formed a purplish spheroid of energy from which a focused laser shot out and hit Twilight: it erased part of his armor to reveal his normal clothes underneath it as if it were a "Cross Fusion": Balrog coiled his whip around the right boot and pulled to make Twilight meet the ground: he then gripped him with the right hand by the neck and violently tossed him towards the end of the corridor: he met the wall and groaned.

"Shit. I haven't done any serious battling since last year and I'm regretting it dearly by now…. Darth Bapgei! Pull out! I'm going to repeat a trick I used before… It can't be helped." He grumbled.

"… Roger."

He'd managed to heavily damage Shark Man, Skull Man and Wood Man who'd collapsed into the ground by now: he then rushed out by jumping out through the window while Twilight got to his feet and chuckled as formed a wand.

"Patam-patim-patum!"

"What's that? Ya wanna play _Harry Potter_?"

There were several cries and the wall broke: a horde of "Kentauros" Pokémon rushed in and began to tackle the attackers: Twilight chuckled and he suddenly made his armor glow with a white glow as it was shed off his body and remained standing in the air: he stepped back while chuckling but then some lasers hit him from behind: he growled and turned around to see some Sentinels flying towards him and quickly surrounding him.

"Che… Go!"

He suddenly de-materialized and the armor glowed: it turned black and it suddenly imploded to release a shockwave which swept the corridor and deleted the "Kentauros" horde while also knocking out the Sentinels and the attackers: when it cleared the whole corridor was burnt and razed and the Navis somehow got to their feet.

"The rascal can't be far! The damned Melkor wannabe~!"

Balrog de-materialized and seemingly went off to try to chase the guy: the others seemed to doubt.

"Go, go!" Priest commanded.

"The will of Priest – sama: move it!" Present rallied.

"Go, dude!" Future encouraged.

"Roger! Someone should take care of the Net Agents' Navis."

"Commander Beef is heading there with the other two: Spark and the Sentinels help keep the others at bay. We freed everyone but they've all fainted from the stress. It'd seem there was someone else but they were warped out: but the big fishes are all here nevertheless."

"Roger!"

The other Navis de-materialized and entered the local Cyber World: they found a trail of flames which were still burning and which indicated where Balrog had headed to: the others formed surfing boards with jet engines and began to fly across the space while putting some height between them and the flames.

"I got inspired because… Well. You always say "surfing the Internet" and hence…" Priest chuckled.

"Heh! I always wanted to try out some surfin'!"

"Hrum. I can spot Balrog and Twilight plus Gate Man 333 meters straight North." Axe Man reported.

"Good. Let's speed up. Gate Man should be no rival for Balrog but Twilight still must have some potential."

They speeded up and spotted Balrog ramming into Gate Man and stomping him by jumping over and over into him while Twilight was using a jet-pack which seemed to be a total copy of Boba Feet's one even: he was laughing aloud and it now could be seen that the "Dark Lugia" was flying along with him and shooting "Destruction Beam" in a row to wreck the area (which was close to the Melbourne Internet City): Axe Man jumped forward and delivered a blow into the back of the "Dark Lugia": it howled and Twilight cursed.

"Che! Diehard lot!"

"Goin' somewhere? Eat these!"

"Ugruh! Grakc! Hruh!"

Destruction Man landed in front of him and began to punch and kick the guy in a row: Twilight growled and formed an RPG-7 which he shot at zero-range but Destruction Man used the black hole trick to use it himself and shoot it back at Twilight while shattering an invisible armor he'd been using insofar.

"Invisible armor, too, eh? Ya are fond of cheat tricks!"

"Sheesh! Flash!"

There was a flash and he escaped so Destruction Man landed back on the ground and shrugged.

"Heh! Fly back to yer ugly nest, ya crow…"

"Hmpf… How the mighty have fallen…" Annihilator Man muttered.

00:09 AM (Detroit Time), Saturday August the 12th…

"… Alright, Dave~… Did Hal tell you to hide my sweets?"

"No."

"Heh, heh, heh! Maybe ani – chan did it even."

"Jeez. Ayase. That joke's lame."

"Maybe the _Sheriff_ over 'ere did it?"

"Not you too, Lander…! Remember. We came here because we know Ming's pawns are gonna hit this Internet City next: the plan is to sabotage the UFO but ride on it when they retrieve it so we can find out their physical location…"

"I knew that, Ryuuto, Digital Snatcher!"

"Stop with the "Analog" and "Digital" jokes already, man."

Davis and Lander were standing atop a skyscraper in the Detroit Internet City and Charles was pulling some jokes while Ayase chuckled in the background of Martin's line: he rolled his eyes and then reminded them what they'd come to do in the first place.

"Luckily for us… Commander Beef and the others had been researching physical archives and had found Twilight's hideout a week before the other day… They were waiting for a time when the guard would be low and had already contacted Rama to lend them a hand… All the guys recovered on Thursday's evening and there were no sequels: even Nelaus and Isaac seemed to shrug it off." Davis brought up.

"Yeah… And Twilight is still too good at fleeing: I guess the rascal looks up to General Grievous. Obi-Wan did describe him as being too prone to fleeing." Martin added.

"Dave~… I'm Hal's lil bro… I want time to shine~…"

"Charles. Quit messing around. It's about to come."

"Sure~… The Monolith will swallow them alive~… Into Hades…."

"Jeez."

An UFO formed in the sky and both Navis quickly warped atop it: they used Omega's copy sabers to cut a hole and drop inside: they rushed down a corridor and found some armored Navis with RPG-7s: Davis grinned.

"Monolith."

He formed a tall and thick black slab which was so perfectly smooth and seemed to swallow all light around it that it gave off a sense of dread for some reason or another: the RPG-7s fired but the cover of the slab vanished to reveal a never-ending tunnel apparently located in another plane of space altogether: the rockets went inside and then they reappeared from behind the Navis, hitting them, exploding and knocking them out while inflicting damage to the armors: Lander drew both Colts and began to shoot to draw recoil trajectories and hit the enemies from several angles.

"Let's go!"

"Make way to the _Sheriff_, ya lot!"

The duo rushed further inside and Davis drew two golden-colored Long Swords next to cut through some lasers forming a barrier: another armored Navi team was waiting there and they had guns which looked like the Clone Troopers' laser guns: Davis used his swords to deflect the blows and then dashed past them while cutting through the armors: Lander took off his hat and flung it as it drew an orbit and inflicted further damage to the squad.

"Heh! I looked up Oodjob in the _Gold-finger_ movie!" He admitted as he put it back on.

"Good job!" Charles made up a lame pun.

"Jeez." Davis grumbled.

"Let's reach the corral of hens."

"And hen hens!"

The trio ended up reaching the core and Davis stepped forward while seemingly getting ready to stop it up.

"Program Advance, Charles!"

"OK! Justice Sword, Triple Slot In!"

"GOLDEN… BLADE~!"

Davis formed a golden-colored Dream Sword and flung it towards the core: it got hit and an explosion ensued: the core stopped working and the usual mutters of nervousness and fear rang out.

"Starting translation… "Not again!"…"

"And again." Charles laughed.

"… "The General will have our necks this time around!"… "Why can they predict where we show up at?" … "Oi, you lowlife! What happened to checking the servers?"… "I can't. Only the General knows the kernel password."… "General…! What did he think: that we'd boycott them from the inside or what? Paranoid military dudes!"…"

"Sure they are…"

"Auppp?"

"Why. It's Rushing Rusher of Rushes."

"Jeez. Stop telling Rush stupid nicknames."

"Aupp…"

Rush showed up there and looked sad at Charles' silly nickname as Martin scolded him.

"Yeah. Gotta agree with ani – chan there…"

"Warning… They're about to retrieve it… Davis: get the escape route secured, OK?" Lander whispered.

"OK. Rush. Hide somewhere." Davis told him.

"Auppp!"

There was a rumble but the landscape didn't change in any noticeable manner: both Navis quickly climbed up the walls and spotted how a hatch further up opened and some large pipes descended until they were some inches from the top of the core: auto-repair mini-robots came out and began to crawl across the surface to repair the core: there was the sound of a door opening followed by several persons standing.

"Hum. Ming in person… How is it, Davis?" Lander whispered.

"I've already installed the tracing program in each of these things: I'll make one look like it's malfunctioning, recall it, and have it transmit the location of the servers to us… Then we can prepare a strike to destroy the computer center from the inside… It'd be better if only I, Rama and the Subspace took part… Just in case… We don't want political repercussions to the affair…" Davis detailed.

"OK."

"Hum. So this is one of their devices…"

"Xon' Edos… You followed us?"

"It could be named as such."

"Short answer: yeah."

Xon' Edos showed up there and began to hover in front of the core while studying it: he seemed interested and paid no heed to a group of armored Navis trying to creep into him from behind: he merely spread his arms and formed blackish armor over them as well as two yellowish thin swords the edges of which glowed with an eerie purple glow: his body began to emit that glow as well and he suddenly formed a smile, for once.

"So. You Net Navis… You intend to get in the way of our Masters?"

"What?" One grumbled.

"Let's blow 'em!"

"Horra~h!"

"Urra~h!"

"So. A fight, it is. Very well, then. Deny me. And realize the foolishness of trying to stand to power far above your imagination."

"Let's pull out, Lander… Rush! Follow us… Our job is done, anyway, and this could be totally wrecked for all we know." Davis whispered to the two of them.

"Auppp."

"OK! Time to go check on my buddy Billy… Bubby Billy! Heh!"

"Not bad, Lander!" Ayase chuckled.

"Jeez. The rhyme's too forced."

"It's too sharp and clean for yer ears, Ryuuto – sama~!"

Xon' Edos suddenly dashed across the air while leaving "afterimages" of his own and moved in a neat and calculated manner: he crossed across the room and by the time he halted all Navis had been sliced in half in some spot or another: they fell into the ground following their earlier inertia and none remained standing by the time he had landed on the ground and resumed looking dull.

"So? Have you learnt the lesson, you interlopers? Is there some Earthling Net Navi who will try to oppose US?" He challenged.

There were some yells in the real world which seemed to belong to a commanding voice and a Dream Virus formed there, looming over Xon' Edos but he merely hovered skywards and dashed past it: by the time it had finished rotating, Xon' Edos had swept past it again and cut his central axis in four pieces thus making the torso fall into the ground and remain face-up while the legs were unable to move anymore.

"Did you really believe such an inferior program would be able to even hurt me? This is the punishment for sabotaging our work…!"

He formed a purplish spheroid of energy which he flung at the core and it was neatly deleted with all of it being absorbed into the spheroid.

"I shall be going… Farewell! And I shall be taking this data. Hah!"

15:47 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Aura – chan."

"Huh! Y-yeah, Felicia?"

"That of the other day…"

"What?"

"Jeez. Why did you send me to a non-existent store? Where did you go off to in the meanwhile? And why did you return in such a rush like you'd been doing something bad?"

"W-what are cha talking about?"

"Don't try to pretend. Did you stalk Nelaus – kun or what?"

"W-well… Who knows?"

"Or did you do something bad?"

"M-maybe Ayanokouji – san told me to smuggle her some strawberry milk…?"

"That's not it."

"_Hai_! The Maha Special, Miss."

"Ah! T-thank you!"

"It's nothing."

"Ugra~h!"

"What in the…? Hinoken and Count Elec? What now?"

Aura had been sitting in one table of Maha Ichiban's and looking nervous as Felicia questioned her with obvious suspicion: Maha brought the dish and then the yells of the two guys rang out from the street: they rushed in and leant on the counter while looking out of breath.

"A bull stampede~! There's a bull stampede out there~!"

"_Oh my God!_ _Bulls everywhere! Bull's-eyes!"_

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… The Bull God is your enemy! Oh laborers come from south western lands…"

"W-WHAT?"

"Trouble."

"Sha-dow-Man!"

"_Daishogun_. The campaign of bulls and grass has begun."

"What did you do NOW?"

"Hrum. I don't feel amused today either, Shadow Man. Confess!"

Shadow Man began to joke with the guys who got pissed off and their Navis sighed in defeat: Miyabi fumed as he drew the PET and called out for him and Dr. Wily didn't seem to be amused, for once.

"Those were "Kentauros" Pokémon! I got inspired by seeing an episode where the main _ronin_, Satoshi, ends up catching a whole batch of them, you see… You need to sweat and struggle like the laborers you are: or maybe you'd prefer a Math exam?" Shadow Man chuckled as he showed up with the hologram and folded his arms.

"T-this JERK!"

"Hinoken – sama…! The deliveries…!" Fire Man called out.

"Count Elec, sir…! The strategy to defeat Tesla…!" Elec Man reminded him next in a hushed conspiracy tone.

"Devil! The deliveries! Quick!" Hinoken gasped.

"_Goddamn_! Tesla! The _silly niece_! _Stick out your neck_!" He hissed.

"You asked for it! N-S Tackle~!" Magnet Man's voice rang out.

"Ugra~h! Stealth camo AGAIN!" Elec Man growled.

"_What_!"

"Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho! Uncle~! I'm back with a vengeance: a re-vengeance~!"

"T-Tesla!"

"Speaking of _kaichou_ – sama…" Wily muttered.

"Like father, like daughter…" Miyabi drily muttered next.

"Go, Magnet Man! Dark Generator! Dark Attack!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Sure-kill! Dark Attack!"

"Not so fast! Trap Card! "Attack Guidance Armor"! I equip it to the "Magnet Man – Blue"!"

"What!"

Elec Man was facing off against Magnet Man as his body glowed with a creepy purplish "aura" but he then formed the Trap Card and the armor formed on the blue Magnet Man: his attack got directed to it and it was blown up: Elec Man took the chance to form a duo of Bamboo Swords and slash the guy twice from behind: Magnet Man growled and quickly turned to try to punch but Elec Man began to flip and get away.

"Lightning Blast!"

"Mag Missile~!"

"Hrah!"

"Hah!"

Both shot their attacks to each other and made contact but that wasn't enough to put them off: they rushed towards each other and began a fist showdown yet Elec Man was more agile given his thinner body while Magnet Man was bulkier.

"… I'll give you something neat." A voice rang out with some sarcasm.

They both stopped, surprised, as a crashed chopper appeared there and began to glow with light as it floated and then began to spin upon its axis to build up inertia: it shot forward and Elec Man ducked to dodge while Magnet Man got hit by it and driven against a wall: there was some chuckling and Cloud Man's hologram formed there.

"Heh, heh, heh. Time to heat up things!"

"Hrum. One mouse showed up." Wily grumbled.

"Huh! Shadow Man!"

"Got a problem with me…?" Shadow Man dully taunted.

"Che! You snuck on me from above back then!"

"What?"

"Huh! I mean! You lowlife's "Alternate"…"

"Hmpf… That's a _ninja_'s style: Yamato Man must be the type to always attack from the front… Since the guy's a _samurai_…"

"Lorentz Force! Die~!"

A train's wagon formed next and shot for Shadow Man who calmly drew his _katana_ with both hands, held it vertically, and then rushed forward while charging for the train: his blade neatly cut through it and he reached the glowing yellowish dot in the ground below Cloud Man's hologram: he plunged the sword there and the hologram flickered for a split second while a grimace of pain formed on Cloud Man's face.

"Gruh! I can still feel pain nevertheless…! Che! I'll pull back… Magnet Man: use your body mass to win!" He called out.

"Roger, Cloud Man – sama~! Hra~h! Mag Line! N-S Tackle~!"

"Shit."

Cloud Man's yellowish dot flew off while Magnet Man formed the Mag Line to draw Elec Man closer and then tackle him with both bodies: Elec Man growled but then chuckled.

"Hah. Fool."

"Wha~t?"

"The fool is cha! Cha have lost! I beat Father to it! Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!"

"I wonder about that! Muramasa Blade~!"

"E~H! Where'd that come from?"

"The cursed blade…! Ugru~ckh!"

Elec Man drew it and hit Magnet Man to open a wound on his upper torso which he clutched: Tesla gasped in horror, her earlier confidence having been shattered.

"Goddess Eri will bring up a new macho secretary which will become your father's lover…" Shadow Man chuckled.

"E~H! No way! FATHER!"

"T-Tesla – sama…!"

"Wanna more?" Elec Man challenged.

"D-damn. I'll remember this, you lot!"

Magnet Man fled and everyone sighed in relief: Aura had finished her meal and couldn't avoid looking guilty or nervous.

_I just know it…! The reason for the bags in the head, all those women and Navis…! The tone she used on me…! Her words…! That was NO club: it was an illegal party! No! It was an orgy! And they tricked me into torturing Nelaus – kun! I'm sure he realized I was there! Hell! I'm so sorry, Nelaus – kun…! I got lured by that woman's words…! But it's not like I could refuse: she hinted at something bad happening to me if I did…! Will you be able to forgive me for my sin, Nelaus – kun? I'm so sorry, really…!_

"_Phew_! _Good job_, Elec Man!" Count Elec sighed in relief, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and dropped into a stool.

"Yes, sir… They got their lesson…"

"W-well… Here's the pay, mister… I'll be going."

"Do come again, Miss."

"And next time meet the Anti-Makeup Goddess."

Aura rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat while Shadow Man chuckled at his own stupid improvised motto…


	12. Chapter 12: Crossing n Fusing

**Chapter 12: Crossing n Fusing**

07:27 AM (Japan Time), Monday August the 14th…

"… Mwah, hah, hah! Gate Cannon! Run!"

"Kya~h!"

"The Virus Lab is now ours! We'll repeat that of 2 years ago: materialize Viruses and bring terror and fear to this city!"

"Not so fast, Mr. College of Gates."

"Well, well, well. The princess bites back, eh?"

"Sure thing! Dimensional Area: Activate!"

"Let's go, Roll!"

"Yeah, Meiru - chan!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Come!"

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! Cross Fusion!"

Meiru rushed into the Virus Lab where Gate Man was going into a rampage by shooting at random and making the staff flee: she took our her Link PET and her Synchro Chip which she inserted: Gate Man chuckled as the brightness decreased and "CF" Roll showed up there while having the Roll Arrow bow drawn.

"Roll Arrow V3!"

"What! V3?" He gasped.

The Roll Arrow glowed and created several copies of itself which flew towards Gate Man as the tips became normal tips instead of those hearts: they plunged into his body and Gate Man growled as he stepped back and his limbs began to move at random without order.

"I've inserted a program which makes the limbs gain a mobility program of their own and act at random for 55 seconds!"

"T-this lil girl…!" He cursed.

"Tee, heh, heh. I beat that Snake Man guy back in October! I can beat cha as well. Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon!"

"Huh! Gate Cannon! Damn! Aim forward!"

"No use, _Danna_~! Fire~!"

"Uwa~h!"

The Program Advance hit the guy head-on and he was propelled towards a wall: he grumbled something as his limbs finally stopped acting mad and he got to his feet.

"Go~! Legion 64! Delete~!"

"Metto~!"

A purplish time-space gateway formed and the 66 Mettools began to rush out in rows of 6 thus making 11 rows: "CF" Roll ignited her Jet Vernier and flew upwards to then form a Giga Count Bomb which she flung at the ground and blew up: some of the Mettools were sent flying by the shockwave but they remained intact nevertheless: "CF" Roll spotted Gate Man rushing further in.

"Beware! When ya pass that door… The welcome committee will shave your hair!" She laughed.

"Jeez." Roll didn't find it funny.

"Welcome committee? Whatever! It's gotta be Hikari! I'll smash the guy to a pulp! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

Gate Man rushed into another room and gasped since an army of "CF" Miyabi "Kage Bunshin" was forming a circle there and waiting for him: three more formed behind him and he nervously began to look around: they were all silent and had their arms folded.

"Huh! Prism! Gate Cannon!"

He formed the Prism Battle Chip and tossed it higher in the air: he shot his Gate Cannon at it and the reflected beams of energy shot through _all_ enemies in the field: he gasped.

"Then…!"

"Surprise Attack!"

"Uack!"

"How foolish."

"Damn."

The real "CF" Miyabi suddenly dropped from above and made his _katana_ cut through the height of Gate Man's back: he growled and turned around as he drew the second _katana_: Gate Man drew the Gate Cannon and began to shoot several rounds in a row but "CF" Miyabi easily deflected them to begin with and then warped to slash him from the front: Gate Man growled.

"Damn. Remote Gate~! Legion 64!"

"Metto~!"

"My bad, Miyabi – sama! I was only able to knock about 25 of them!"

"Don't worry, Sakurai… I can deal with these."

"Their HP is incredibly high and so is their attack and defense: these are no normal Mettools!"

"Mettools born of the "Dark Pact"… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh."

"Don't mix fantasy _anime_ now."

Gate Man jumped into the Remote Gate as several Mettools rushed in breaking through the door and "CF" Roll chased them: "CF" Miyabi wasn't surprised but Shadow Man pulled a joke.

"Go on ahead. The guy's headed for the control center. Reach it, send Roll to the Cyber World, and try to stop the guy from robbing Viruses or infecting them with "Bestialize Factors"."

"Roger!"

"And give them a kiss of death…"

"Jeez. That joke's one-sided." Roll fumed.

"I agree with cha on that."

"Shadow Man. You be quiet."

"Quietness Man shows up with the Paddington 4:44 PM express."

"Jeez."

"CF" Roll rushed upstairs and reached the control center: one computer displayed the word "WARNING" on its screen so she headed over there and grinned.

"Let's go! Cross Out!"

She cancelled the "Cross Fusion" and picked the Link PET: she aimed it at the computer's IR port.

"Plug In! Roll, Transmission!"

Roll made it inside of the system and instead of Gate Man he found a gigantic four-legged robot looming over her and blocking her from reaching one of the Virus Hibernation Capsule devices: the robot didn't have a face yet it had three red round dots which acted as eyes and seemed to be fixated on her.

"W-what's this thing? It's huge!" She gasped.

"Go, Quadraxis! Crush that lil girl!" Gate Man's voice echoed.

"Where the heck did this come from? Another rip-off?"

"Yeah! _Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes_! Hah! Let's see if you can emulate Samus Aran and beat it flawlessly! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! I'll love seeing you being SQUISHED by this thing!"

"Intriguing design."

"Who's there?" Gate Man's voice gasped.

"Xon' Edos."

"The Utah guy! Again!"

"If you must name me as such…"

"Surprise Attack! Uack!"

Xon' Edos appeared higher in the air and looked at the scene while Shadow Man tried to drop down from above and plunge his _katana_ into the head from above but the transparent shielding over it deflected him: the robot began to move and hum: its knee joints began to glow with a blue/red intermittent light while four small circles on the feet between its "claws" glowed with an orange/reddish light: the thing just moved the legs in a circle and the head could spin 360º to keep track of Roll: some pointing lasers as it began to load some weapon: she quickly flipped towards the right to avoid a white beam which shot from the head and hit the ground.

"Huh! This thing is no joke… Meiru – chan! Look up this game in Google and find me a guide!"

"Roger!"

"Hmmm… Let's try to dodge this thing and study the attacking pattern to see if we figure out something." Shadow Man muttered.

"Go for it."

Both began to run around the robot and it merely moved the legs in a circle while creating shockwaves around each foot while also shooting missiles which rained down close by: Meiru could be heard typing into the computer.

"Huh… I'll try looking in the Boss Battle guide…"

"OK. The name is "Quadraxis"!"

"Huh… Found it! Alright… You must aim for the knee joints and shoot a "Super Missile" at it… Guess we can use the Giga Cannon… Or go into "Morph Ball" mode and place Bombs on the feet things while also using the "Boost Ball"… Just aim for the knees. Ignore the other part of the legs connecting to the main body…"

"OK!"

"Shadow Man. Lure them."

"Fine… Come, Machine King's evil half-cousin."

"How funny."

"Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In!"

"Giga Cannon!"

Roll shot at one knee and the robot momentarily stopped while lowering its main body: she then placed a Giga Count Bomb on the red dot in the foot to blow it up: the robot quickly started moving again and shot some small bursts of some beam.

"More!"

The robot then jumped some centimeters and landed back while producing a noticeable shockwave: both Navis jumped to dodge it up and the robot then shot some missiles: Roll shot the Giga Cannon and blew up part of the armor of the knee so it collapsed into that leg but didn't hit the floor: it rebuilt part of the armor and continued moving: it then contracted the legs and began to spin upon its axis without moving from the spot: a blue "tornado" of energy was created and began to suck them in but they managed to get away in time.

"This thing is no joke. It's armed to the teeth! If we're not careful we'll get busted!" Roll warned.

"It looks like it was supposed to be the ultimate weapon of some alien tribe…" Meiru muttered.

"It lives up to its purpose!" Shadow Man grumbled.

"More and more!"

Roll blew up the third knee in a row and the robot stopped for some seconds before resuming unloading its arsenal on them: Shadow Man formed his "Kage Bunshin" army to try to overwhelm the robot's targeting capacity while Roll loaded a Zeta Cannon.

"Zeta Cannon!"

The blast hit the last knee: the robot's body began to frizzle and move erratically while lowering and lifting its main body yet without losing its balance: the main body suddenly dropped into the ground yet the head began to hover on its own to their surprise: it formed three simplistic rods from the sides and behind as it began to hover and continued on attacking them with the earlier attacks (beam shots, the targeting beam, missiles) as they dodged.

"Ah! I skipped the rest of the explanation…! 2nd phase: the head will be working as long as the tactical link with the main body is working so you've got to take out the antenna on the main body: that'll stun it for some seconds and you must take out all three antennae!"

"Fine… Let's go!"

"Yoyo Blade!"

Roll shot the PA at the antenna and it frizzled: the head began to float erratically and Shadow Man quickly jumped to cut off one antenna: a smaller version of the robot colored in a garnet coloring and having just one eye in the head and a central red dot below the main body dropped from nowhere: it seemed to be about Shadow Man's height.

"Small fry to distract you… If they're this guy's evil kids then they surely can split their heads too…"

"Yeah. The guide says that the head can attack independently and the main body can work without the head… It spins and comes for you so dodge and target the red dot below the body… The head needs some firepower…"

"Leave it up to me. Battle Chip, Tank Cannon!" Miyabi calmly announced as he inputted the weapon.

"Eat this, evil heritage."

"Grtjkxgbt!" Miyabi growled something undecipherable.

"Roll! The head's started moving again! Go!"

"OK, Meiru – chan!"

Roll aimed for the main body antenna and delivered some hits with her ribbons to momentarily disable it: she then drew a Samurai Sword and cut another antenna followed by the third: the head began to glow and its glass cover shattered exposing the armor: it began to drift in a random manner and shattered the glass covering of the legs' armor to reveal some ramps built into them: it then began moving again.

"Ah! There was more… 3rd and last stage: stun the head with some attacks and then use the Boost Ball to shoot out from the ramps and land atop it: place Power Bombs in both head holes… Guess we can just use the Jet Vernier and Giga Count Bombs."

"The evil heritage is decimated… Guess the seeds got stained along the way…" Shadow Man joked.

"That isn't funny!"

"Did you say something, _daishogun_, or did the cries of agony of the evil parent swallow it up?" He joked next.

"Auppp!"

"So. Envoy of the Demon World. Are you a lesser Demon?"

"Auppp?"

"You and your manias…! Don't tell me you're influencing Dragon Hell's latest banners…!"

"Eat this! Yoyo Blade!"

Roll shot the PA (while Rush showed up) at the unshielded head and stunned it: she flew and landed atop it to place two Giga Count Bombs on both openings: one went off and the hole began to burn: when the second went off it began to explode and emit a trail of smoke: the head violently hit the floor, bounced off once or twice, and then went up on smoke: the main body got deleted next.

"PHEW!"

"The devil. We got engrossed with this thing and…!" Shadow Man cursed.

"Shit. I forgot, too…!" Miyabi cursed.

"Meiru – chan? You guys alright?" Meijin opened a line.

"Meijin – san!"

"_San wa iranai_!"

"We're sorry. Gate Man placed a gigantic robot which needed a lot of firepower to take down and we've just realized we've been wasting our time trying to take it down."

"Heck. I'll need to see a status report…"

"If you mean that Net Navi prone to fleeing… I gave him a warning and he fled without having time to rob any Virus or infect it." Xon' Edos landed next to them.

"Forgot about you…" Shadow Man muttered.

"Ah! Phew. So our mission wasn't wholly in vain, then!" Roll sighed in relief at the news.

"Indeed."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Guro~h!"

"Damn. "Nebula Grey"…!"

"Twilight…!"

"Is that…?"

The hologram of a gigantic monster-like apparition formed.

This monster had a main body the shape of which looked strikingly similar to the Alphabet letter "T" with the base having three pale blue diamond-like formations aiming NE and NW on each side of it: four large metallic chains came out from inside of the vortex and attached to the purplish mass which was the upper body.

The thing's head had an irregular shape as it was made up of reddish mass with white patterns drawn over it.

Two red eyes missing any iris shone on the face while the mouth area was colored blue: giant teeth filled the open mouth which uttered inhuman roars: a thin large diamond object was set on the forehead, too.

Six needles colored blue and with a small blackish stripe near the base of them emerged from behind the shoulders: they had an eerie vibe to them and looked sharp.

The monster's hands looked more like claws than real hands: they were colored in a reddish tint all the way to the start of the forearms: two cuffs seemingly made of metal with an inner blue band and lacking chains were visible on the monster's wrists.

"You got away by INCHES! Next time the world shall be ruled by Viruses and only Viruses! Legions of unending "Juuka" AKA "Bestialize" Viruses: just like in Beyondard! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"I do wonder about that."

"CHE! THE BITCH'S LIL BRO: COME TO FOIL ME!" He growled.

"Hmpf… You fail at impressing others…" Xon' Edos drily sentenced.

"I agree with the guy there…" Shadow Man shrugged.

"So? Your precious Queen – sama's back in New Orleans: your party barely lasted 4 hours." Meiru taunted.

"Nya~h! This lil girl! IQ – sama will make you regret turning down Her Grace's offer! Forever! Her Grace will engrave that in your flesh! And in your Navi's flesh too! Long live to IQ – sama~!"

"Hmpf… Threats are nothing. A resource one falls into when they want to sound menacing yet they are powerless when it comes to try to execute them..." Xon' Edos drily announced.

"Nya~rth!"

The "monster" roared and vanished with a bright purple flash: Roll fumed, Shadow Man shrugged and Xon' Edos didn't seem to care.

"That guy…! I'll give 'em a lesson yet!" Meiru fumed.

09:19 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Lovely. We get called to the aquarium because the workers had detected something odd in the computers…"

"And we find this thing."

"According to the walkthrough page I found… Its name is "Chykka" and is the 2nd guardian-class Boss…"

"It's a multi-phase battle, too… Just like what Shadow Man and Roll went through a while ago…"

"CF" Charles and "CF" Martin were standing in a round metallic platform in the middle of the local Aquarium pool the water of which had turned purple and trying to deal with a gigantic larva-shaped creature with gray skin and some blue dots: the Aquarium was encompassed by a "Dimensional Area" as well.

"Justice Vulcan!"

"CF" Charles ' design included red boots and forearms along with brown chest armor which had a golden cross set on the middle of it: matrixes of on/off squares colored green and blue spread across his forearms and legs.

His helmet's forehead had a blue hexagon-shaped jewel set on its center which was glowing with a pale sapphire glow while his eyes' irises were blue: a mouth-guard having an outer golden edge and a main silver body formed over his mouth.

A backpack with two exhaust tubes colored silver and golden materialized and attached to his back while extending four red lines arching over his body and creating a bluish ring around the chest emblem with four small black rectangles having a red dot on their center.

He had some extra armor coiling around his right arm too and he wielded a saber identical to Omega's but colored blue instead in the right hand while he'd drawn a Super Vulcan on the left forearm: the rounds didn't seem to take much effect.

"Lead Rounds!"

"CF" Lander, on the other hand, retained most of Lander's normal form.

Differences included a coat of arms – like pattern on the helmet's forehead: Martin's hair came out from behind the helmet.

The shoulders remained anatomically correct and had brown leather armor over them.

His arms and elbows had switched to a turquoise color: the forearms (colored dust brown) had some black crisscrossing patterns drawn into them and which looked thicker than Lander's: they glowed with a soft blue glow as well from time to time.

His main body also gained the Alphabet letters "M" and "B" colored red and black each and set left and right beneath the shoulders.

A set of three parallel green lines descended from beneath each letter and then joined into a thick one which ended on a waist belt having two pouches for the Colts.

The legs contained two circling orange bands set above and below the knee which had metallic gray dots drawn at random inside of them.

The boots were white: they had a faint white color like they'd worn out from time.

He sported a cowboy – like hat colored brown and white over his head as well.

He'd shot rounds from his Colts as well but they have no effect so he switched to a Mega Cannon Battle Chip: the thing just leapt into the air and fell down splashing them with the purplish water.

"The guide says that you must wait until it leaps out and then shoot."

"Che. Damned Cloud Man: I swear it's the guy's handiwork!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Calling on the great me~! Cloud Man – sama's pet will drag ya into a watery grave and ya will perish in the sea~!"

Cloud Man's 3D image formed higher in the air and he taunted them while laughing.

"Struggle for a while… IN VAIN!"

"Sheesh." The Navis grumbled.

"Be careful: the thing may climb into our ground to try to eat us with the tongue: we need to stun it!" Lander warned.

In effect: the monster climbed into the platform and took out a thin bluish tongue which it wrapped around "CF" Charles' right boot: he cut it off with the saber and then delivered some serial cuts to the thing: "CF" Lander joined by shooting Mega Cannon rounds.

"Die!"

The thing howled and slipped back into the water: the level descended and they could see the thing leaning in one wall of the pool: it suddenly emitted some bursts of light and the larva's back broke to reveal a large dragonfly-shaped monster which also seemed to be a cross with a bee as well: it had an extension which was reminiscent of a bee's stinger and four thin bluish legs: it began to move around quickly and the round metal disc suddenly split into three curved sections which the center sunk: the two of them grumbled.

"Could this get uglier?"

"According to the guide… Now you need to stun it from the front and quickly hit the dots where the wings are born from… Hit them four times and it will fall into the water… That's when it will begin changing phases: the second phase involves hitting a sac which it will grow."

"Fan-tas-tic." "CF" Lander fumed.

"Truly." Lander grumbled.

"Ki~h!"

"Shaddup, you freak. Martin! Distract it and stun it while I hit the wings from behind!" "CF" Charles commanded.

"Roger! You! Ugly! You're fired! Super Vulcan!"

"Now! Chance!"

"Struggle and DIE~!"

"Shaddup, ghost of the past."

"Hit a vibe~? Milverto~n?"

"CF" Charles fumed and played deaf as he shot a blast from a golden-colored Mega Cannon at the NW wing: the blast split into five and hit the center of the back too: thus making the "Chykka" fall down into the water and begin splashing there: it gained a large egg-sac plus purple coloring all over it: the thing began to fly again and summoned smaller insect-sized versions of itself.

"Let's hope we can take it down with two blows. Program Advance! Justice Blade, Triple Slot In! Golden… BLADE~!"

"Program Advance! Fumikomizan, Triple Slot In! Fumikomi Cross!"

Both attacks hit the egg-sac so the thing shrieked and plunged into the water which resumed its earlier color: the platform began to be deleted but they quickly used their Jet Verniers to fly away and land where the public's seats began: the corpse got deleted and both sighed in relief while Cloud Man gloated.

"So! You will be facing against "The Bombers"!"

"Huh? What?"

"The Bombers? The firefighters?"

"No, no! I meant a bunch of brutes which go around doing stuff with bombs hence "The Bombers" name…"

"Is that some joke?" "CF" Lander demanded.

"Yessir. It turns out that "bombero" in Spanish means firefighter and is derived from "bomba": the word can mean the explosive AND a pump! So it's close to the French "pompiers", see. Hence why Agent F was surprised about his boss' statement! The campaign of doom and boom began right there and then! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"How devious of you."

"Hello? Charles – kun, Martin – kun? Status report?"

"We beat some dragonfly freak and Cloud Man is the culprit."

"Jinmei – amas!" Cloud Man laughed.

"WHA~T?" Meijin uttered in disbelief.

"Snape sent you a package: it has some hair there which smells just like his perfume~!" Cloud Man laughed.

"Snape died two years ago!"

"Ah! But there's a BUT!"

"What?"

"In the films he's still alive~!" He laughed.

"That's a loophole, damn it all!" Meiin growled.

"Megane – chan is annoyed!"

"WHAT? TAKE THAT BACK, YOU!"

"Take that forward, me! Sponsored by Vincent "Red" and General Campestre~!" He laughed.

"Not Vincent again…!" Charles groaned.

He and Martin had already cancelled their "Cross Fusion" forms and were getting both annoyed and exasperated by now.

"Well! I'm off before Megane – chan throws a curse at me: I'd rather buy a non-curse and reconvert it into an anti-curse! Mwah, hah, hah! Off I go by the Off Door of nowhere at all save for Dragon Hell's own Hellish Dragons' Door! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Too random! I'm about to go mad." Lander hissed.

"Me too!" Davis growled.

"Join the club." The other three grumbled.

They fumed and folded their arms out of annoyance…

11:31 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So. We meet again."

"Show me your moves, Bapgei."

"You were asking for it, Nelaus… I shall not hold back…"

"Hmpf… If ex-Boss wants me to stay alive for the sake of the show then you can't kill me… Unless she gets in the mood to…"

"That shall not halt me."

"Whatever. Knives can't damage my Cross Fusion and I've protected the chest emblem with a shield like Sigma's."

"Let's go, Nelaus. This guy needs a hit in the head with a hammer."

"Provided by Donkey Kong?"

"You think you're funny?"

"When I am ordered to…"

"Ex-_senpai_'s negative influence…!"

"CF" Nelaus was fighting the Talon in the rooftop of the Net Police HQ: a green KA-62 had been parked in the heliport while the Talon flipped and jumped around throwing the knives at "CF" Nelaus: they were engrossed in calling out to each other in English, too.

"What's you guys' goal?" "CF" Nelaus demanded.

"That depends on what Her Grace settles."

"So ex-Boss is the one influence ex-_senpai_, huh. Should've seen it coming: they still communicate with each other…!"

"Hmpf… Nothing can stop Master from doing that: prisons are soon going to become vulnerable to the new-gen warfare and terrorism… And so will all devices around the world, too… The result of humanity's foolishness: make it easier for other humans to inflict terror and manslaughter…"

"Che." Isaac grumbled.

"Now… Fight!"

"That's what I'm doing. Eat this! Charge Shot!"

"Trap Card. Attack Nullification."

The Trap Card formed in the field and the Charge Shot got absorbed by it so "CF" Nelaus grumbled something as he jumped for the "Talon" and gripped his clothes: the "Talon" merely materialized boots with talons on them and arched his legs backwards to have them cut through some of the bodysuit's thickness: "CF" Nelaus let go and jumped backwards to examine the wounds but then the "Talon" appeared behind him and gripped his neck from behind with the right arm while using claws on the left to leave five scars which spanned some of his back: "CF" Nelaus ducked and gripped the arm to fling the "Talon" forward but he merely used both hands to land on the ground, flip and landed in a crouched position: "CF" Nelaus drew a Long Sword and rushed for the guy but he merely spun upon the right leg and threw four knives which hit "CF" Nelaus' shoulders and hips.

"Besides. You know that I can't bleed to death."

"… "You, too, have been placed in an immortal body?"…" The "Talon" quoted.

"Yeah. I know. Vamp said that in _MGS4_, Act 2, after he tries cutting Raiden's new body but quickly realizes his body is different. "Omae mo shinenai karada ni…?"… The "ni" particle indicates "into" the "immortal/undying body", and the verb must be guessed from the context. So "placed" makes sense in this context. Japanese has these tricky spots where one must guess the verb given the context." He instructed.

"Heh, heh, heh. Sure… The US version placed "you, too, immortal?" instead to shorten it… But the original hints at Vamp's body being immortal although he wasn't "placed" on it because it's his original body: maybe he meant that he's been granted an immortal body." The "Talon" calmly suggested.

"Could be. Are you gonna fight or what?"

"In short: both of us have nanomachines which quickly regenerate our wounds and make us unable to bleed to death. Unless we happened to have the nanomachines-suppressing syringe…"

"Long Sword!"

"Foolish…"

"CF" Nelaus rushed for the "Talon" but he easily caught the Long Sword with the right hand and then violently lifted it to rush for the upper torso and slash his right claw across it thus leaving some scars there: "CF" Nelaus wasn't surprised and he delivered a kick to the stomach area of the "Talon" who merely let it push him back before he howled like an owl and jumped into the air while drawing four new knives and shooting them to hit the forehead of the helmet and get stuck there: "CF" Nelaus didn't let it intimidate him either and turned on the Jet Vernier to shoot skywards and ram into the "Talon" using the left shoulder: the guy merely flipped upon the air to land down on their fours as "CF" Nelaus suddenly shot towards him, closed his arms around his waist, and lifted him into the air but the "Talon" merely made the claws and talons aim backwards to inflict cuts to him.

"So. About to stuff it into me?" He taunted.

"Shaddup." He grumbled.

"Nelaus! Don't let the jerk annoy you." Isaac whispered.

"Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din-Din." The "Talon" began to hum a silly rhyme which quickly got annoying.

"Gruh! It's annoying! Shut your beak up: eat some worms!"

"Worm-tongue says you will betray your kindred."

"How original of you."

"Go bow to the White Magician."

"Saruman? The guy was pretty power-hungry, or so I've heard."

"You should realize… That they were not mere mortals…"

"Ah no?"

"He was a "Maiar"… A spirit who was sent to the physical world by the Valar, the greater Gods… He was selected amongst another 4 to form the "Istari" or "Wizards"… So while he took the shape of an old man he really wasn't a man to begin with: he was a physical spirit… Sent to fight Sauron… Who was a Maiar as well…! So they actually were equal in rank to begin with…" He chuckled.

"You're a walking fan-pedia or what?"

"According to Master… There was a Net Navi in that future era named "Pedia" and which belonged to some four-eyed kid… Fitting. Too bad they had no combat capability." He chuckled.

"Jeez. Don't spoil me like ex-_senpai_ did last year. Here: drop!"

"Hmpf…"

"CF" Nelaus let go of the guy but he simply used magnetic soils to attach to the fuselage of the chopper and then draw his shorts swords as he jumped back for him: "CF" Nelaus formed a Neo Variable Sword and shot one Sonic Boom at the guy which he partly blocked but forced him to recoil: "CF" Nelaus then shot a Yoyo Battle Chip at one sword and stole it: he cancelled the Long Sword and used it to clash with the "Talon" and managed to open a cut below the torso which was very superficial: the "Talon" suddenly grabbed the knife and tossed it into the air where it was surrounded by flames before being warped elsewhere: he formed a new knife.

"I see. That sword had some of your skin and blood attached to it so if I'd kept it we could've finally figured out your ID."

"Correct… But you cannot…"

"Why? You're a loner."

"Hmpf…"

"Ah. I see. You have other persons to meet and such and you want to keep the appearances. I get it…"

"Yeah… Because if he vanished without an explanation and all there'd be some fuss and we could fixate our eyes on the disappeared guy to try to investigate them…" Isaac guessed next.

"Hmpf… Watson's apprentice…"

"Oh yeah? So you're Mr. Perfect's apprentice?"

"Maybe…"

"Hmpf. Let's settle it. Eat this!"

"CF" Nelaus and the "Talon" landed back on the ground: he formed a red light-saber and tossed an emerald-colored one to Nelaus so both stood ready and then began to clash and exchange blows with each one blocking the other: "CF" Nelaus changed styles and managed to cut through some of the right hip cloth but that didn't spot the "Talon" whose barrages became more violent and faster forcing "CF" Nelaus to defend and to yield terrain: he suddenly ducked and swung the saber to cut through the knee-guards: the "Talon" paid no need but then "CF" Nelaus hit the right knee with the lower end of the saber: the blow did inflict an instinctive reaction in the "Talon" and "CF" Nelaus took the chance to rise to his full height, arch his head back, and then hit his head with the hood of the "Talon": the bronze ornament jumped off and he then delivered another head-blow which connected and momentarily stunned the enemy.

"Hmpf… My play-time has expired… Next… Those "heroes" will be tested to see if their skills need to retire from active duty… "Why! Sergei! Shouldn't your skills have retired from active duty already?"…"

"If that belongs to another MGS game, then… Tell Sigma instead. I only saw 4 'cause ex -_senpai_ was so engrossed with it last summer."

"Heh, heh, heh. Go book Dan Brown's _The Lost Symbol_…!"

The "Talon" jumped into the air and vanished along with a purplish flash so "CF" Nelaus sighed.

"Bapgei…! Are we destined to always face each other…?"

"Dunno… But we'll beat the guy no matter how many times it takes!"


	13. Chapter 13: Tales of Talon

**Chapter 13: Tales of Talons**

17:07 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday August the 16th…

"… OK! Trill! Uncle Omega is gonna play _Tzar_ with ya."

"Yay! We're gonna travel with Sartor?"

"Yeah. We'll be players nevertheless. We can be in the field but we're immune to attacking and all because we're not really in the field."

"OK!"

"So! Let's begin with Mission One…"

"May I take part too?"

"Ah! Iris. Sure. We'll just be watching and commanding over the units, anyway. We can't get harmed."

"Alright."

"Mr. Denpa told me he discovered this when he was in 5th grade, more or less when it came out… So… Trill here is about 7 by now. Mr. Denpa was 10 then. I think it's safe for him to watch."

"We witnessed a war. We can witness this."

"OK. Let's start it up, then."

Iris stepped into the VR Room as Omega and Trill were seemingly getting ready to do something: there was a chat and Iris agreed to it so she made her body glow and gained a new Net Navi form.

This form's helmet had some strange-shaped lines colored yellow atop it.

A partial mask covered her eyes, although it could be seen that their irises were colored brown.

She wore a blue sea coat and her legs were colored blue: she had some four pink buttons on the coat.

The only emblem she had was on the ear pads and it looked like the shape of a hand colored yellow.

"Good. Well! Let's start. _Tzar: The Burden of the Crown_… Campaign: "Tzar"… Difficulty: hard… Let's go!"

The VR System turned on and the "portal" formed as they travelled into it and entered the Cyber World: the space was wholly black save for a screen showing a library somewhere and a book in the first term: some text began to scroll upwards.

"The introductory story… I'll read 'cause it's in English and I think Trill doesn't have auto-translation system… "A long, long time ago… In the Great Wars' Age… Evil almost ruled the world. But, when all seemed to be lost, a very special child was born: a great magician having great power. He defeated the Evil Forces and restored peace to the world. And so that wars would never happen again, he sealed the whole of his power in a great Crystal Sphere which would protect the Universe forever."…"

"Wow! It had to be the Black Magician!" Trill giggled.

"He's been playing that card game, Duel Monsters." Iris explained.

"Yeah. Guess it was his cousin." Omega looked amused today.

"Keep on, Uncle Omega!"

"Sure! "But the magician was growing old, and, knowing his end was close, he handed the Sphere over to the wise kings of Keanor. Nobody would be able to rule the world as long as they had it. During several thousands of years peace and prosperity were abundant. Until another magician was born: a poisoned heart magician. He was so ambitious that he wished to rule the world and didn't stop until he managed to steal the Sphere. The power of those magicians loyal to the King wasn't enough to stop him."…"

"Hum. When you leave such an artifact in plain sight… Then the temptation is born…" Iris muttered.

"… "They could only set up one spell: when the magician would try to use the Sphere then it'd become a statue. Nobody heard of that magician or the great Crystal Sphere anymore. But without it, nothing could stop the emergence of Evil's armies. Years of devastating wars ensued. During the last battle…"…"

"Calamity ensued?" Iris gasped.

"… "King Roan himself, the wisest and fairest of all monarchs ever, was defeated… And the Keana Kingdom fell under the control of Borgh's armies: the evilest and ruthless tyrant to ever step into those lands."…"

"So I take it that Borgh is the main enemy." Iris guessed.

"Bad mister! Go home!" Trill announced.

"… "But King Roan had a son, still a child, whom old Ghiron, last surviving magician, saved from the ruins of Keanor. After travelling for some days, Ghiron reached an isolated village. He left child Sartor on a poor farmer's house doorstep and vanished into the woods…"… OK! Start!"

The scene now showed a patch of forest somewhere: two sawmill buildings were placed close by while three "Peasant" units were cutting down wood from the trees and bringing it to the sawmill buildings: two were colored cyan and one was blue.

"Blue is Sartor."

"Yay!"

"The scene doesn't seem to be controlled by the player."

"No. This is programmed to run on "freeze screen" and the orders have been assigned by default." Omega confirmed.

"… "I'm tired! I dunno why Uncle Brian wants us to keep on cutting. We've got more than enough wood for the rest of the winter."… "Yeah. I'm tired too."… "Yeah… Let's rest for a while."… "Lemme finish this tree firstly. Does anyone have anything to eat?"… "I do. But we'd better end as soon as possible."…"

A new "Peasant" rushed in at that moment once the automated conversation (a rectangle with the text and sometimes a face icon plus some dots signaling the speaker) had closed down.

"…"Hi, Matthew. Why are you here? I thought you were helping your father fix the rooftop."…"

"… "Sartor! Quick! Your uncle Brian sends me. He wants to talk with you! Right now!" … "Why? What's up? Did something happen?"… "I dunno, Sartor. But he looked very worried: you'd better hurry."…"

"Now! The freeze is released and we gain "Mission Objectives"… And that is to go meet Uncle Brian. You can explore the village and when you get close to other units then you will trigger conversations."…"

"Yay! Let's go!"

"The "fog" effect will hide all happenings in areas you've visited and you must explore the map to reveal it little by little."

"OK!"

Trill moved the unit and as it walked some more patches of map came into sight yet the surroundings were covered by a cloak of "fog" which hid all units into that area and only allowed one to see the buildings: Sartor reached one house were a "Peasant" was at.

"… "Hey, Sartor! Everyone's lookin' for ya. Where'd ya been at?"… Here you can pick two replies. You can choose Number One: "What's up? Something's gone bad?" or Number Two: "My Uncle Brian sent me to cut wood. What's up?"…"

"Huh… One!"

"… "Dunno. But ya better hurry."…"

"Trill will find Uncle Brian!"

"What could be going on?" Iris wondered.

"… "Hi, Sarton! The whole village's looking for you. What's up?"… "Dunno. Thought you knew."… "Can't tell much. I saw some foreigners come this morning. They asked for your uncle and told them to go NW. Who were those men?"… "Dunno. See you later: gotta go."… Huh… Some bad guys came?" Trill guessed.

"Ah! So that's what's going on."

"Feels like it…"

"… "Hey! Sartor!"… "Do you know what's going on?"… "Going on? Dunno! I'm simply looking at the trees. They're magnificent this year around."…"

The player advanced until a "Farm" building (insofar the village had had several "Farm" buildings, one "Smithy", several "Houses", the "Sawmill" and one "Inn") the sprite of which had a flame on it: there was a "Priest" unit (Arab design) standing in front of it.

"…"Sartor! Come here!"… "Uncle Brian! What happened? Who set fire to the farm?"… "Listen, you! You must flee! Right now! I knew they'd come for you one of these days! Get to shelter, Sartor! Flee!"… "But what's going on? You're hurt! I'll warn the medic. Be right back."…"

The screen suddenly froze as four red-colored military units came out of the woods at the left: they were 3 "Foot Soldier" and 1 "Knight": they suddenly attacked the "Priest" and he was killed.

"… "Bring me the kid! Move it, you idiots!"…" The "Knight" commanded.

They began to attack the farm building while Sartor automatically began to flee SE chased by the 3 "Foot Soldier" guys: he came to a stop near some small woods and some grayish rocky terrain but then a figure showed up from the right.

"…"Devil! I'm late again! Step asides!"…"

The figure began to shoot what seemed to be balls of energy at the enemies thus defeating them.

"… "You… did that?"… "I'm glad to see you again, Sartor. My name's Ghiron. Follow me."… "Ghiron? See you again? Wait a min. I'd never seen you before… And also… How did you do that…? Are you a wizard or something like that?"… "Yes. I'm a wizard. A pretty good one. Heh, heh! Well, that's enough! Come with me."… "Wait a min! Wizards don't exist!"…"Do I look like come out a fairy tale? We do exist! I come from Keanor… I came as soon as I knew Borgh was looking for you. I'm sorry it was too late. But nothing can be done. Now follow me. We've got a lot to talk about."…"

"Wow! A wizard saves Sartor! Yay for Mister Ghiron!"

"Phew." Iris sighed in relief.

"Well. This ends Mission One… But the whole campaign is 19 missions which steadily grow in length, size and difficulty… There'll be some more action in Mission Two… Let's go for it!"

"OK!"

The library background showed up again and displayed the book with the scrolling text.

"… "When day fell Sartor already fully trusted Ghiron and knew the truth about the wars, his father, King Roan, and about the lost Sphere. Nevertheless, he had it hard accepting that those persons he'd loved as if they'd been his true parents weren't and that the world's fate hung on him. He couldn't bear with the memory of what Borgh's soldiers had done to his village: but Sartor knew there was no turning back."…"

"The world's fate…!" Iris couldn't help glance at Trill.

"What's wrong, oneechan?"

"Eh… Nothing."

Omega, however, seemed to guess what she'd wanted to say.

_Trill is the "Synchronizer" and it was thanks to his power that the Beyondard War ended: we were there and we were the ones who did it 4 years ago… Although Hikari and the others didn't get to learn it until 2 years ago… And last summer Twilight did rebuild the "Zoanoroids" and recreate their campaigns… Gate Man was rebuilt in October as part of a mass rebuilding waiting at the Professor's lab and fled: ever since then he became a servant of the jerk… Anyway… If ya think that this chapter will be slow-paced then bear with it for a while. I guess that Twilight will soon stir up more trouble._

The scene showed Ghiron (European Wizard) and Sartor next to a campfire and chatting.

"… "You must defeat evil Borgh and re-unite the Keana Kingdom."… "And how do I that? I've got royal blood, yeah. But who will follow me?"…"

"Good point." Iris rubbed her chin.

"… "People are tired, Sartor. After the death of your father… Wars and disasters ensued. His peaceful kingdom is part of their precious memories. People will be ready to follow anyone who can make them happy. And, specially, Roan's son."… "Alright. But where do we start from?"… "Us being here tonight is no coincidence. I brought you to this forest because the remains of your father's Honor Guard camps here. They've been fighting Borgh's tyranny for all these years. They're lead by Woolin, the person whom your father most trusted. He's waiting for us."… "How do we find them?"… "We'll follow this path until we find a deep pit in the route linking Keana and Jaddua. We'll pick the old road west. We must find an old guard post which is used by the rebels."…"

"Yay! Time to explore! Like the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon!"

"Yeah. More or less." Omega shrugged and grinned.

"Boom!" Someone laughed.

"Sigma. Stop using the communications line." Omega commanded.

"Yikes! R-roger."

"…chariots descended from the 9 Sinful Worlds and…"

"DRAGO~N! ANGER GOD'S COMING!" Vadous roared.

"Ua~h!"

CRASH!

"Yay! Mister Dragon fainted!"

"Please…" Iris didn't find it funny.

"The HQ goes mad… AGAIN… Damn it." Omega groaned.

"Trill found a sign!"

"A sign? Ah. You mean a banner… What does it say?"

"… "Jaddua – east"…"

"Then go west and south."

"Yay!"

Sartor and Ghiron did so and reached a small camp having a "Sawmill", a "Guard Post", one "Watch Turret" and a campfire: 8 "Foot Soldiers" and 6 "Long-Bow Archers" were dispersed around it plus a yellow-colored "Pike-man".

"… "So you're Roan's son! Continue until the campfire and talk to Woolin"…" One "Foot Soldier" instructed.

"Yay! Let's meet Mister Woolin!"

"And wool a wool!" Sigma laughed.

"Sigma. Don't annoy me in purpose." Omega grumbled.

"Yikes!"

"Shut that thing off and do something USEFUL! NOW!"

"R-roger!"

"Jeez! What a guy!"

"… "Welcome to my camp, sir. My name is Woolin. I was friend and counselor of your father."… "Now that we'll fight together I hope we'll be friends, too. What are your plans?"… "We were planning an ambush on enemy troops which patrol the surroundings. They move in small groups along the forest's path…" … "Let's go, then."… "Good. We'll need to cross around the pit you passed and head east through the old road to intercept enemy patrols and catch them off-guard. The best spot is where the road is cut near the path. I'll bring you there. Follow me."…"

"Wow! Trill can now control the soldiers! But Trill can't control Woolin."

"Don't worry about that yet. Just bring the soldiers with you and follow Woolin to the ambush spot."

"OK!"

"Ms. Smith wants her helmet back, Bloody Shadowy~!"

"SIGMA!"

"Yikes!"

"I'm about to get annoyed FOR REAL!"

"Flee." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Yay! Woolin turned blue! And some enemies come! A "Knight"! Down it goes! Now 2 "Pike-Men"… 2 "Pike-Men" and 2 "Mace-Men"! Another group of 2 and 2! Wait! A conversation! "Wait! Something's wrong… Looks like our pals have fallen into an ambush. We must send a messenger to report to the captain!"… A "Knight" appears but tries to flee!"

"Intercept them!" Omega commanded.

"Yay! Cheat time! "Hmnotech"! Ghiron used "Freeze"! And then "Thunders"! The "Scout" is down! The others are down! Yay! We won!"

"That's enough. I saved before the last 2 enemies were beaten so we start from that spot next."

"Yay!"

"Cancellation!"

The VR System shut down and they returned to the real world: there was a knock on the door and Blood Shadow came in while looking pretty if not totally annoyed.

"Sigma…?" Omega guessed with a sigh.

"Indeed. The usual stupid thing."

"Uncle Sigma did something silly again?" Trill asked.

"Yeah. He needs some scolding. See you later."

"Yay! Blood! Did you beat the VR? Trill added some Stone Golems!"

"Yeah. They took one or two blows but they could be brought down: but it added a touch of diversity so…"

"SI-G-MA~!"

"Yikes!"

"Go patrol! Find the Talon or whatever! Move it!"

"R-roger!"

"JEEZ!"

"Poll time: who is Mr. Shoes? A: Clark Kent. B: Bruce Wayne. C: Peter Parker. D: No – one." A pre-recorded voice asked.

"Sigma! The moron! Messing with the storage bay passwords!" Someone complained.

"Huff. Complicating things for Kir Osh… The jerk…!"

"No – one!"

"Correct, _Danna_! Go hire a lawyer! Mwah, hah, hah."

"Nya~h! I'll make mincemeat of the guy~!"

"… Come with me, Trill. We're going back to the room. It'd seem the atmosphere is filling with annoyance."

"Yay! See ya, Blood!"

"See ya."

Trill and Iris left (she reverted to her normal appearance) and Blood Shadow sighed as he checked up something with a holographic screen: he then removed the shotgun and used his hands to take off his helmet.

"Phew."

He had reddish slightly messy hair and golden/red eye irises: his face did look like being around Netto's and Rock Man's age.

"Unlike Blues I like to see natural light from time to time. Well. Let's pre-program a new simulation and then we'll go to Hikari – kun's place."

He inputted some commands and hummed a tune.

_Next time I'll face 50 dragons and I'll beat them all. Heh, heh, heh._

15:25 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Slow."

"Che! Boomerang!"

"No use."

"T-this GUY!"

"Netto – kun… Cool it down!"

"Easier said than done!"

"Netto Hikari… Feel despair."

"Hikari Netto!"

"Hmpf… A little mistake but that will not save your hide from failure…"

"Who is gonna fail? If Nelaus could beat ya I can too!"

"You are but mere mice."

"MICE?"

"Jeez. Netto – kun! Focus!"

"CF" Netto was trying to hit the "Talon" as they fought on the Science Labs' rooftop, encompassed by a "Dimensional Area": the "Talon" quickly flipped and jumped while dodging his attacks and taunting back in English which Rock Man translated: Netto was getting frustrated and Rock Man was trying to cool him down.

"Nelaus will overcome you. It is time for your skills to retire from active duty: Ocelot decided it."

"I dunno who Ocelot is but I'm not gonna quit! I'm the very first "Cross Fusion" user and I saved the Cyber World twice!"

"Yet you really didn't defeat the mighty Pharaoh Man."

"Che! We weakened the guy together and then he chose to blow up!"

"Cool it down, Netto – kun."

"The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… retire."

"How funny!"

The "Talon" didn't reply and suddenly began to hover some centimeters over the ground while glowing: he formed some "bunshin" of his own and they began to spin clockwise at a very fast speed which made discerning them be very hard: "CF" Netto grumbled.

"Sigma Sword!"

He formed Sigma's gigantic sword and held it up before dropping it into the ground: a ring of flames formed around him and all "bunshin" were delete as the original caught fire: they merely dived for the ground, began to roll across it and stood up again, having put out the flames: they then threw eight knives at once which hit "CF" Netto's shoulders, hips, forearms and knees: he groaned and winced from the sudden pain and then the "Talon" drew both short swords: he quickly ran in a circle around "CF" Netto who tried to ignore the pain and aim a Super Vulcan but the "Talon" easily cut it up with both swords.

"No use. Surrender to despair and humillation."

"Who is gonna do that?" "CF" Netto grumbled.

He charged into the "Talon" and delivered a barrage of fists: he gracefully dodged and then chuckled as he snapped his fingers and a holographic screen displaying a sound graph formed: some audio began to play out in which the shot of a gun being shot rang out followed by a gasp: a faint moving water sound could be heard too.

"Wha…?"

"… Heh, heh, heh… Like I thought… Humans' muscles are eloquent. They tell everything in advance. Where you will move to or where will you aim the muzzle at… But you lowlife's muscles seem to be different… Looks like it'll be fun… It was worth it waiting…"

"What?" "CF" Netto grumbled.

"_Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty_…"

"So you mean to say you can read my moves before I carry them out?"

"Indeed."

"Che!"

"What happened to those self-defense lessons?" He taunted next.

"CHE! I don't need 'em by now! I've got my style! Hrah!"

"Amateur…"

The "Talon" drew his blades and swiftly cut through the armor over "CF" Netto's right hip thus exposing his shorts' material and cutting through it too to form a superficial cut there: it quickly got healed, however, and "CF" Netto suddenly gripped the neck of the enemy, spun around and threw them towards a "Dimensional Generator" satellite antenna: they merely bounced off it using the feet and drew another 8 knives which they threw at "CF" Netto hitting him around the chest emblem: "CF" Netto ignored those and drew the Rock Buster.

"CHARGE SHOT!"

"Netto – kun! Wait! The opponent is a human, remember? Even if those clothes have some shielding to it, they're still clothes, not armor!"

"Che. Forgot about that… Whatever! Fire!"

"Don't!"

"Come… Deny me…"

The Charge Shot got fired and the Talon merely formed a thing metallic ring wider than an arm: the edge began to hum and purple energy flowed through it before it became a purplish round energy mass with a black spheroid in the middle: the Charge Shot went into it and vanished inside only to reappear behind and above "CF" Netto and hitting the rear of his shoulders instead: he fell into the ground face-down from the blow and then the "Talon" jumped into the air and landed atop him while crouching and placing both swords' edge on "CF" Netto's neck from the front.

"Any last words?"

"Go to Hell! Area Steal!"

"Hmpf…"

"CF" Netto warped, reappeared on his feet behind the guy and delivered a kick to the back: they merely rolled sideways across the ground before standing up and spinning to the right: the Hell's Burner Battle Chip attack headed for him.

"Netto – kun! He's still a human! He can't withstand such heat!" Rock Man warned.

"Like I care!"

"Something's wrong with you…! What's this signal…? Shit. Twilight: hijacking the chip implant again…! Won't grow tired, the guy…! Dr. Lartes, do you copy?" Rock Man grumbled.

"I do. I'm working on improving security. Hell. I'll need help from that new Science Labs programmer to handle a version-up of the software… Let's try something else… Shadow Man wants to smuggle a pepper into the _ramen_!" He muttered before calling out.

"My _ramen_? Shadow Man…! I like spicy things, yeah, but… A pepper in the _ramen_…! The guy won't change!" He rolled his eyes and looked like he'd momentarily forgotten his previous mood.

"There! Get out! Kicked out! Huff!"

"Huh? Why. I feel like I've vented off bad mood…"

"No wonder. The jerk was back at it: using the chip implant: to try to make you recklessly rush in and be defeated…"

"What! The jerk…! Maybe this implant thing is starting to turn unnecessary to begin with. At first I wanted it to help me run from the fear of the "Crisis" and the subsequent memories but… Twilight has hacked five times into it by now!" He grumbled.

"Maybe you're right. Next time we'll remove it altogether seeing how it only leads to trouble. You can face those memories by now, too."

"Fool."

"Huh! Battle Chip, Stone Cube!"

"What!"

The "Talon" renewed the assault but "CF" Netto formed several Stone Cubes which piled and protected him: the "Talon" tried hitting them with the swords but they had no effect whatsoever: he failed to spot "CF" Netto looming behind him while having lifted his fused hands and then lowering them to deliver a blow to the back of the head: the "Talon" groaned but didn't lose consciousness: they quickly delivered a kick to the waist area with the right foot but "CF" Netto began pickling out all knives and throwing them back at the "Talon" in a random manner: some got stuck in the clothes but didn't get past them: now it was the turn of the "Talon" to get annoyed and flip back to land into the dish of a "Dimensional Generator" antenna.

"Sheesh." Twilight grumbled over his radio.

"Master?"

"Shit. Laertes kicked me out before going to kill Hamlet!"

"Huff. That joke…" He seemingly had heard it too many times by now.

"Huh? Did ya say something?"

"It would be wise to cancel the combat."

"I agree with ya on that one…! Retrieval!"

"I shall be back!"

The "Talon" fled while "CF" Netto sighed in relief: the "Dimensional Area" got cancelled and he retrieved his Link PET.

"That guy's no joke… And I almost got beaten…!"

"We must be careful: our enemies will become more ruthless from now on. We'll have to revise our tactics and go back to close-quarters fighting."

"Yeah, Saito – niisan…! But I won't lose…! Not to those creeps…!"


	14. Chapter 14: Worms, confessions and blows

**Chapter 14: Worms, confessions and blows**

18:28 PM (Japan Time), Friday August the 18th…

"… I disliked worms, yeah, but these…!"

"Are annoying…!"

"Enzan – sama: it would be best to focus."

"I found the online guide and the strategy to beat them, Laika – sama."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Swallow Man tells ya that ya gotta sweat."

"Hum! Yamato Man says you must prove your power, _ronin_ lot!"

"Not that again!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Sink in the Universe's "Dark"…"

"Be buried under the Siberian tundra…"

"I'll warp ya straight to the Living _Naraku_."

"CF" Blues and "CF" Laika were fighting a group of three gigantic worms with three blank eyes each and a closed mouth in a soccer field surrounded by a "Dimensional Area": there was a blackish sphere in the middle of the arena and the worms preffered to dive into the ground and then re-emerge to dive back in: the Darkloids looked on from the seats.

"The guide says that we must break their outer shelling: then they will attach to the sphere and shoot out energy drawn from it. While they do that we must blow up the new shelling: they will start sucking air in and we throw a bomb inside. Repeat another two times." Search Man described.

"Their name is "Amorbis"…"

"Am Morbid?" "CF" Blues sarcastically suggested.

"Sure fits the things."

"Insector Haga would like to add 'em to his Insect Deck! And to have them eat up all opposition!" Cloud Man laughed.

"Feel the despair!" Swallow Man taunted next.

"Hmpf… "Neo Gospel" won't end just like that…" Yamato Man sneered.

"We placed the 3 of them at the same time, but… In the game you have to beat 1 first… Then 2… And then the 3 of them… Be glad we didn't recreate the terrain conditions!" Gate Man chuckled.

"After all… IQ – sama is a fan of the _Metroid_ series!" Freeze Man chuckled.

"Sheesh." Both grumbled.

"Super Vulcan!"

"Flame Sword!"

Both attacked one worm and part of its plating jumped off: it then kept on diving so they focused on another.

"Scope Gun!"

"Bamboo Sword!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. Put up some struggle for the audience~!"

"Metto~!"

"Lovely. Legion 64."

Legio 64's Mettools had picked a seat each and filled several of them as the two of them kept on fighting against the worms.

"Sheesh. What does it take to break their shelling? RPG-7s?"

"For all we know…!" "CF" Laika was losing his cool too.

"The strategy guide suggests missiles, Power Beam shots, Charged Power Beam, Light Beam shots, and Charged Light Beam." Blues listed as he checked with the guide.

"So Program Advances would do well." Search Man added.

"Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!"

"Program Advance! Fumikomizan, Triple Slot In! Zeta Fumikomi!"

"Struggle~!"

"CF" Laika's PA hit one worm and "CF" Blues' one another: both lost their plating and attached to the sphere to grow some new shelling around the head including what seemed to be a horn: they began to build up a sphere of purple energy and shot three continuous beams which travelled across the ground.

"Now we gotta blow that shelling there…! Area Steal! Tank Cannon!"

"Satellite Ray, Scope Gun!"

"By the way, Cloud Man… Do that." Swallow Man sneered.

"Oh yeah! For those of ya out there interested… I'll make a summary of each Tzar main campaign mission! Mission Three: get the gold from the tax collectors! Four: defend the old capital, Keanor! Five: gain the alliance of Lord Valor! Six: second defense of Keanor! There are two endings: if Sartor is captured then you go to a special mission, 7B. If you defeat the attacking forces, then go to 7A! 7B: rescue Sartor! 7A: get the magic book from the Jaddua port! Eight: assault General Birsha's camp! Nine: make your way through Wark Aven's outer defenses! Ten: raze the Evil Castle in Wark Aven! Eleven: meet Vardal, from the Allita Island Protectors, and set sail for the Allita Islands!" He began to list.

"Lovely." Both "CF" users grumbled.

"Twelve: defend the Allita Islands from invasion and join forces with Vardal! Thirteen: Vardal and Woolin go help the Kalt'ha inhabitants but Woolin is caught in a trap! Fourteen: Sartor travels to Hong and gets clues about the location of a map telling where the Sphere is at! Fifteen: Ghiron organizes the defense of the Allita Islands! Sixteen: back to Kalt'ha, rescue Woolin and assault the Mages' Tower! Seventeen: raze the city of Benas and get the Sphere Map! Eighteen: last battle! Along with your Katl'ha and Hong allies… Annihilate all enemies, kill Borg, the Evil Messiah and crumble the Evil Castle!" He laughed.

"We got spoiled!"

"I'm Spoiler Cloud Man!" He laughed.

"Sure, sure."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah."

"They've begin to suck air in! Chance!"

"Eat this! Mini – Bomb!"

Both threw Mini-Bombs at the worms as they sucked air in and two of them swallowed them: the bombs went off and they shrieked as the shockwaves travelled down the ring-segments of their bodies: they arched and hit the ground to arch again and then be deleted: only one enemy remained by now.

"Eat bombs!"

They threw two new Mini-Bombs and the worm swallowed them: it convulsed and then got deleted: the sphere blew up to reveal the "Goronya" Pokémon inside of it which smirked.

"Goronya? What next?" "CF" Blues grumbled.

"Mewtwo?" "CF" Laika tried to guess.

"Nope! Bang-Bang Girl!" Cloud Man laughed.

"How silly." Both muttered.

"Bang-Bang! Lucky Luke! "Great Explosion"!"

"Devil. Dream Aura!"

"Dream Aura!"

Both protected from the explosion and when it cleared the Legion 64 Mettools were already there: they began to throw themselves towards the Dream Auras to try to hit them but got bounced off: yet, their numbers were too big and their accumulated damage was rising despite both figthers' attempts to shake those off.

"Auppp!"

"Rush? Why are you here?"

"Aup! Aup! Auppp!"

Rush suddenly showed up and grinned as he signaled the ground and formed a pit which seemed to connect with the Cyber World given its cybernetics walls: the Mettools began to be sucked in and Gate Man gasped: another hole opened above him and they suddenly fell atop him and buried him underneath them.

"Mukroghant!" He cursed in another idiom.

"Guess that's Beyondard idiom…" Yamato Man muttered.

"Twilight – sama must've wanted to recreate it." Freeze Man guessed.

"Guess it means "damn it"…" Cloud Man ventured.

"Sure thing…" Swallow Man shrugged.

"Hello? Do you copy? Ijuuin – kun? Laika – san?"

"Who's there?" "CF" Blues asked.

"I'm a new programmed at the Science Labs and I work on new programs which interact with both worlds: Meijin – san…" The person began to describe.

"_San wa iranai_!" Meijin interjected in the background.

"…is my superior."

"Oh?" "CF" Laika looked slightly amused.

"Alright, my men! Tactical withdrawal!" Freeze Man ordered.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Beware of my Spoiler Spell!"

"Hmpf."

The purple gateway formed and they all escaped while Rush grinned and rubbed his hands.

"If you'd come to the Science Labs… We'll introduce each other."

"Ah! One thing, you two! _San wa iranai_! Get it?"

18:51 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Eh… Hi… Nelaus – kun…"

"Hi. Aura – chan."

"C-can I… come in?"

"Sure. I'll ready some tea."

"T-thank you."

"What's with you today, Aura – chan?"

"… Don't mind it, Felicia…"

"… Hum. Come in."

Aura came to visit Nelaus and she looked rather nervous: Nelaus didn't beat an eyebrow and invited her in: Felicia looked surprised but Isaac calmly told them to get in: Aura closed the door behind her and sat down on the sofa while Nelaus headed into the kitchen: she sighed and hung her head down as if she was depressed or tired.

"The tea." Nelaus calmly placed the platter on the table.

"T-thank you."

"It's nothing."

He served the tea into the teacups and left the teapot on the middle: Aura picked her teacup and began to slowly sip it while Nelaus calmly drank some of it before placing it back on the desk: Aura kept on looking nervous.

"Eh… Nelaus – kun…?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Eh… Some days ago… Something… happened, right?" She slowly began asking.

"Ah. Yeah. Twilight abducted us but then warped us back at random spots to laugh at us. That's all."

"… B-but… I…"

"Huh? What?"

"Eh… I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

"The other day… I was there… I… harmed you… That woman… tricked me… took profit of my idiotic persona…"

"Is that so?" He wasn't surprised.

"… This is… farewell, right…? I can't… remain here… you guys… must hate me by now…" She shuddered.

"Who said anything about that?"

"B-but!"

"So that's what happened." Felicia didn't seem to be too surprised either.

"Yeah." Isaac shrugged.

"Anaya is the idiot. She thought we've learnt nothing of the past. You're a victim of her manipulations. That's all. I knew it on that very moment that it was you, Aura – chan."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because the most intelligent thing to do was to pretend nothing ever happened: that's how you counter bullies. By playing deaf." He calmly drank some more tea.

"So then… You guys… don't hate me?"

"No."

"Is that for real?" She gasped.

"I don't joke."

"Then…"

"Nothing's changed and nothing is gonna change."

"Ah…! I'm so glad…!" She looked relieved.

"See? You fell for that trap and you made that villain win." Felicia pointed out.

"Like I'd let such villains win…!"

"Anaya was just continuing what Gate attempted: to "bury" me socially and mentally… By trying to turn those around me into enemies… Or to try to have them fear me… But that's a bully's act and we're mature enough to shake off bullies."

"Ah…! I feel so relived by now…! It'd been hunting me to no end all these days…! I'm so sorry, really…!"

"Don't worry. Think on other things. Shake it off. Pretend nothing happened to begin with or that it was a nightmare."

"Ah! If I pretend it was a nightmare then… I don't feel so guilty…"

"See?"

"Alright… Thank you, Nelaus – kun."

"It's nothing."

"Huh? Call from Mr. Meijin. What's up, Mr. Meijin?"

"_Misutaa wa iranai_! Nelaus – kun! Emergency!"

"Emergency? Twilight's back at stirring ruckuses?"

"No! The UFOs: they're back and this time around they're here, on Japan Internet City! We managed to issue a warning and most have evacuated but we'd like of you to tackle that thing from the inside! This is our perfect chance to use them to get in and this time around we'll wreck their computers from the inside." He detailed.

"Meijin – san, I've loaded the programs." Someone reported off-screen.

"_San wa iranai_!"

"Roger, sir."

"Good! Get them ready. This ends today."

"Roger, sir."

"I'll take part too!" Aura grinned.

"Huh? Aura – chan? Oh well. Just be careful, OK? Maybe it'd better if you came in through another spot with Isaac as guide."

"Roger!"

"Meijin – shogun! The pizza flew off the window!"

"_Shogun wa iranai_! Nando!" He grumbled.

"Nando – san: please be reasonable."

"Huh? Who are ya? Meijin's nephwew?"

"No, sir. His new assistant."

"That for real?" Nando gasped for some reason or another.

"Go, Isaac!"

"OK! I'll bring out the Diamond Blade. Here, Felicia - chan. This is the O – Saber copy. Use it to cut through the hull." Isaac handed it over to her.

"OK!"

Both warped to Internet City and landed atop a segment of the UFO: they spotted the 3 Musketeers in the side opposite them and Isaac made some gestures: Omega returned them and both teams quickly cut their way in: Isaac and Felicia landed inside and Felicia drew a Mega Cannon.

"Been taking some Net Battling classes from Roll…"

"Good idea. OK. Follow me."

"Intrudersssss!" A voice echoed.

"Trying to imitate Harry Potter's "Parsel-tongue"?" Isaac chuckled aloud and found it amusing.

"My. That wouldn't surprise me. Maybe it's Nagini?"

"Maybe."

"Sssstop them!"

"Horra~h!"

A group of about 20 soldiers (not Navis, human soldier sprites) clad in brown camouflage uniform and having black balaclavas plus IR goggles rushed in while shooting AKs-74u weapons: both Navis jumped into the air and Isaac dropped some Mini – Bombs to stir up some chaos amongst them: they landed past them and rushed on ahead while a gigantic snake loomed over them.

"The Basilisk, huh? Luckily this imitation can't kill with the sight. I've got the perfect medicine for this guy. Magic Card, Protective Seal Swords of Light!"

The Magic Card formed and the three swords fell down to seal the movements of the Basilisk: it hissed but both were running past it already and facing Revolver Ocelot.

"_Good sense_." He taunted.

"Sheesh. First the Gurlukovich soldiers, the Basilisk, this guy… What'll be next, Voldemort? They're worse than Twilight, even."

"Sorry, mister. Magic Card, Brainwashing – Brain Control! The Basilisk becomes us. Here. Play with your pet!"

Both rushed into the core are and found that the other team had already nullified it: Ocelot's roar of fear rang out followed by the hiss of the Basilisk and Isaac rolled his eyes as if guessing the outcome.

"What was that?" Omega gasped.

"Sounded like a snake and someone…" Blood Shadow ventured.

"Mwah, hah, hah… So, Miss?"

"Ocelot got eaten by the Basilisk of Harry Potter! Tee, heh, heh."

Isaac rolled his eyes while the other three seemed to be terrified…

19:40 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So you're the one."

"Yes, Ijuuin – kun. I'm Meijin – san's…"

"_San wa iranai_!"

"…lab assistant."

"Intriguing."

"My name is Obihiro Shun. I'm 14."

"We got told by his tutor that he had exceptional intelligence and was an expert in many aspects of data materializing. The "Rush Hole" is the proof of it, see."

"Meijin! Trouble! Ms. Smith wants her glory back!"

"Rauro! Stop trolling. What happened to the Java-Script?"

"It's done, anyway."

"Does it really work?"

"Ask Ms. Smith."

"Jeez. What's with these guys?"

Enzan and Laika had come to the Science Labs and met with Meijin's new lab assistant: Obihiro Shun.

He could be about 10cm shorter in height than Enzan but nevertheless over a meter and sixty tall by now.

His hair was gray in color and was slightly combed yet it had a rather uncared for look: his eyes' irises were brown.

He wore a lab coat over a cyan top with a hood, blue jeans and white / red sneakers.

"Excuse me." Someone announced from a computer.

"Ah! Colonel, was it? Been a while."

"I know. I've been dropping once a week to check on things: what's the current status quo?"

"Those Choina guys got a witches' brew of viruses inside of their systems which rewrote their access permits and locked them out of the system: Ming has been exposed and arrested while the hackers have been scattered in different locations to make sure no – one could assemble such a thing again. They weren't glad at all, it'd seem." Meijin explained as he drank some hot chocolate.

"Hum. I can guess that… Having a warmonger like Ming trying to stir up countless Cyber Wars… With their Cyber Army still non-existant… The guy was too much of a warmonger, anyway." Colonel calmly muttered back as his face was displayed in a screen.

"In essence."

"Essential Man dropped by 'long Professor Lockhart!"

"Kando~!"

"Mejin! Ms. Smith wants her glory back!"

"Tell her to hire a lawyer!" He grumbled.

"What's with this lab?" Obihiro wondered.

"It's maddening. Be ready, Obihiro – kun. Things here are enough to drive anyone mad. It's like we were cursed for life." He grumbled.

"That for real?" He gasped.

"Sadly, yeah." Enzan sighed.

"I can attest to that." Laika sighed, too.

"I should be glad not to live there, then." Colonel lifted his eyebrows.

"Truly." Blues confirmed.

"Without mistake." Search Man added.

"Banner time~! "Of basilisk and ocelots goes the Ming Heir!"…"

"Banner time?" Obihiro wondered.

"How much do you know about the "Subspace"?"

"Well… Nothing. I just got transferred 5 days ago."

"Well. They're like an ONG with powerful resources and Navis who lend us a hand but… Their HQ is in a ship… And the onboard cook, a Choina guy, is the most bizarre cook ever… He prints Chinese mottoes from forums and sets them in banners which he hangs outside the kitchen… The problem is that he's so absent-minded that he thinks they're classical philosophical proverbs when they aren't." Enzan summed up.

"And that's one?"

"Yeah. Influence by what happened in the UFO…"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. I'm Amgis – amas!"

"Amgis – amas?"

"Jeez. It's anagram. That guy's Sigma. The onboard troll. Beware."

"Meijin – amas! Amas your glasses?"

"What?" He grumbled.

"It's an idiomatic joke. "Amas", in Spanish, is "to love"… So he's asking if you love your glasses." Laika translated.

"Love my glasses? Sigma~!"

"Bite my shiny sword, Jimein – mass!"

"Jimein – mass…? Earth, swallow me whole…" Obihiro groaned.

"WE warned you." Enzan reminded him.

"Roger, sir…" He sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah. See ya and beware of ghouls with pink skins!"

"Ghouls with pink skins…! Someone save my sanity."

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg." Laika sighed.

"You can't be serious, sir!"

"I am, sadly enough. This town goes mad every twice or thrice."

"Beef! And Tuna! The Beef-Tuna-Signal was turned on! Where's the damsel in distress?"

"Commander Beef? What's with that cloak?"

Commander Beef rushed in while brandishing his fish skeleton and having a cloak with beef and tuna drawn into it: Meijin looked baffled and Obihiro looked totally scandalized, even.

"Commander Beef & Tuna: on the scene! To save a fair lady! Mariko – sensei got trapped in the elevator!"

"What! Why didn't we hear of that?" Meijin gasped.

"Commander Beef… A call…" Shark Man sighed.

"Hello?"

"Tee, heh, heh. So! Mr. Hero! Did ya reach the scene?" Someone asked.

"Ayanokouji. I knew it. It had to be you." Enzan sighed.

"KI~H! ENZA~N! I'M SO GONNA BLOW YA 50 FEET UP!"

"Try it." He calmly challenged.

"Ayanokouji…? Isn't that the owner of Gabcom Inc.?" Obihiro wondered.

"The heiress… The SPOILED heiress…" Laika whispered.

"And he's picked Enzan – kun as a rival?"

"Didn't you know? Enzan is the IPC Inc. VP."

"Whoa!"

"He's been at it for over 5 years already."

"And so…"

"Gabcom and IPC are eternal rivals."

"So that's why she got annoyed?"

"Whenever Enzan is close by… We've managed some truces from time to time but… Beware of her! She loves to troll people!" Laika kept on whispering.

"What's with that hush-hush there~?" Yaito demanded.

"Who knows? Maybe I'm suggesting to Meijin that we should warn you father that you're wasting the time?" Enzan shrugged.

"NYA~H!"

CRASH! THUD! SMASH! RAS! SLAM! CRACK!

"Huh! Ya… Yaito – sama! The chair, the desk, the door…! The tree-house…!" Glyde gasped.

"I FEEL VEHEMENTLY DISGUSTED!"

CLICK!

"Earth, swallow me whole…" Obihiro groaned.

"Cold water is the best medicine in this situation. Wash your face and remain away for a few minutes. Look up something else." Laika instructed with a sigh.

"Yes, sir… Next time I'll bring ear-plugs…!"

"Wise idea. Or else you won't last long amongst this madness…!"

"Huff. I'm off, too. I need to report to Barrel tai-sa…!" Colonel grumbled.

"Well. I'm going back home myself. See you."

"And beware of hamburgers, Enzan…" Laika grinned.

"Maybe I should be careful with them, too…" Meijin grimly muttered.

"I'm going back to my store… By tuna and beef… I got trolled… Sheesh."

"At the very least… The "Cyber Crisis" has finally ended…"

"True, Enzan – sama… We're about to step into a new stage…!"


	15. Chapter 15: Status quo

**Chapter 15: Status quo**

08:04 AM (Melbourne Time), Sunday August the 20th…

"… BOO~! FIRE~!"

"Uwah! Fire! Where, when!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Cloud Man! You rascal! I was slepping! It's only 8 AM!"

"Oh the face of terror!"

"CLOUD MA~N!"

"Uo~h! Twilight – sama's angered voice…!"

"FLEE~!"

"R-roger, _Danna_…! Uo~h!"

"By damnation and Olrik!"

"What a way to wake up. Shit. I've lost all desire to sleep, even."

Philip had been sleeping in the Melbourne house's first floor when Cloud Man woke him by pulling a joke: Twilight yelled from the ground floor and he fled while Philip (who'd sat up in a rush) grumbled under his breath and seemed to be pretty much pissed off.

"Someone shut their beak!" Twilight hissed.

"I guess he carries over the annoyance of the party day."

"Do calm down, Twilight – sama…!" Freeze Man pleaded.

"You're one to talk, POPSICLE MAN!"

"No good." He sighed in defeat.

"Uh-oh…" Swallow Man muttered.

"What do we do?" Cosmo Man asked.

"Well… That's what I was wondering, too…" Yamato Man admitted.

"Maybe we need to start some show…?" Gate Man suggested.

"Huh? I left my DS connected to the charger and it's linked to the Wi-Fi router where the guys are at… Hence why I can hear them even if they're talking in a hushed tone…" Philip spotted.

He arranged the bed and opened the cupboard to pick his clothes for the day: a pair of black boxers, jeans, a grayish shirt with the white word "West Point" on its surface and a reddish top with a hood plus a pair of white socks.

"Hum. Today looks cloudy… Anyway… September 12 is the day! I'll finally get my hands on _Pocket Monsters Heart Gold_! I picked _Heart Gold_ 'cause I did play _Gold_ some years ago… The trailers look so cool… We needed a remake of these 2 games, really! And using the 4th gen graphic engine makes it look totally renewed, yeah…" He grinned.

He entered the bathroom and closed the door from the inside as he unbuttoned his black pajama shirt and lowered the stripped black and red pants: he took out his boxers and socks too and left them atop a stool before stepping into the shower and turning it on.

"Ah… A good morning shower… Guess there'll be some S&M training today but I don't mind. I'd been a volunteer in a club for 2 years before Master found me… It's been about 10 months… Feels like forever: but thanks to Master… I've risen beyond the pitiful guy I was."

He grinned and opened an attached cupboard to pick a 5cm silicon vibrator which he turned on and stuffed into his own ass: he leant forward and rubbed his cock with the right hand while he used the left one to move it in and out.

"Yeah… I need some strong sensation to start the day… It helps shake off the sleepiness… Speaking of sleepiness… I've always wondered… If Master is a Net Navi… He doesn't need to sleep, I guess? And he doesn't get tired of being active the whole time… Maybe another reason why he chose to become one… But I'm glad as I am."

He suddenly released and chuckled under his breath.

"Refreshing, really… The _hors d'ouevre_…!"

He took it out and washed it before he shampooned his head and cleansed it followed by his body: he turn the shower off and stepped out to dry with the towel.

"Twilight – sama: the new banner." He heard Gate Man announce outside (through the DS).

"Ah! Good, good. Show me the goods." He seemed to have gotten into a better mood.

"Yes, sir… Here it is, sir…"

"Gotta brace myself…" Philip rolled his eyes.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! "Of werewolves, dogs, rats and stags go the Four Non Heavenly Princes Of Complot And Murder!"…!"

"What in the… Ah…! Jeez. It's a Harry Potter parody: they mean the 4 "illegal" Animagi…"

"Huff." The other Darkloids sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"At least it improved Master's mood…"

Philip finished dressing and placed the pajamas under the pillow before heading downstairs: Twilight was still laughing at it while he had the book of _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ on the desk to the right of the laptop.

"Eh… Morning, Master."

"Ah. Bapgei… Morning, my chap… Did you hear the news?"

"I did, Master... But seeing the book… Did you influence it?"

"No."

"Then maybe it was Cloud Man who wanted to cool you down."

"Well. At leas the jerk can do intelligent things."

"I'll go prepare my breakfast."

"Welll, well. Go on ahead. I'm compiling data from Legion 64 on where the party participants are at… Maybe I'll let them loose one day to put some extra pressure on _kyoudai_… Heh, heh, heh… Let the Messiah hit the Evil Castle!" He laughed.

"Huff. Roger."

"Go, Legion 64! Spread! Rise! RISE! RISE~!"

"When he's not annoyed he's too cheery… Is there no middle point or what?"

He stepped into the kitchen and picked some bread slices from the freezer to put in the toaster and heat them up as he also picked a strawberry mermelade pot from a shelf: he took out a Coca-Cola can and served some in a glass as well.

"Milverton must want his sneakers back!" Twilight laughed.

"Guess it's a joke on how ever since Gen III you gain sneakers to run across the world and make movement faster… But you needn't those in _Colosseum_ to begin with…" Philip guessed.

"My row will bow!"

"Jeez. What a morning. Akihara's madness is spreading to here?"

"My store will restore!"

"Bapgei~… I'm the pork's ghost!"

"Cloud Man…! Don't go and piss off Master again."

"Don't worry, _Danna_~… Steve Dixie will take care of that…"

"I dunno who that is and I don't need to know."

"I'm gonna bring terror and chaos to the neophyte!"

"What neophyte?"

"Someone new neophyte being trained by Glasses Master!"

"Glasses Master…? Isn't that that Meijin fellow?"

"Bravo, Wiggins!"

"Grhtkchkqg!" He growled something undecipherable.

"My rot will root!"

"Oh the cruel fate of the worker!"

"I ain't a worker. Go tell Arceus to land down on Earth."

"Sure~… Archie – chan! Time to eat some rotten roots of rots! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

Cloud Man appearently stopped his silly behavior and rushed out while Philip headed into the living room's table and sat there to have breakfast as Twilight worked with the computer.

"Heh, heh, heh… I'll send the curse to the Science Labs fellows: the Din-Din-Din Curse! The newest curse! It'll beat Potter's curses!"

"I wonder about that." Philip wondered under his breath.

"The deal seems to have backfired, even…!" Gate Man whispered.

"Lovely." Freeze Man sighed in defeat.

"Let's disperse and come back when he's gotten serious." Yamato Man sighed.

"Or else the Hell-jumpers will show up." Swallow Man joked.

"That isn't funny and I don't get the point, anyway." Cosmo Man grumbled.

The group apparently disbanded while Philip sighed and seemed to foresee even further trouble.

"Mow a wow! Rock a cork! Ball a lab! Raze a raid!"

"Huff. Guess I'll go for a walk to see the club and come back later…!"

"_Kyoudai_~… The status quo hasn't changed! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"At least he's right on that… See ya again, Nelaus… Hmpf…"

10:22 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Mwah, hah, hah. Neophyte~…"

"You mean me, whoever you are?"

"Yeah! I'm Spoiled Man!"

"Spoiled Man? Sure, sure."

"I'm gonna SPOIL ya!"

"How's that?"

"_Heart Gold and Soul Silver_…"

"Ah! No! Quit it, quit it! I don't wanna get spoiled on the load of new content there'll be!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah. Feel the fear!"

"Who the heck are you, anyway?"

"Cloud Man!"

"No way! What's a "Neo Gospel" Darkloid doing here?"

"Spoiling Mastering Glasses!"

"Meijin – san? Mastering Glasses? Oh come on. I should've brought the ear-plugs!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Regret it forever, neophyte!"

Obihiro, the new assistant to Meiin, had been working on something in one lab when Cloud Man hacked into his PC and almost spoiled him so he pleaded out of angst: he groaned and Cloud Man sneered.

"There you are!" Zero exclaimed close by.

"Uoh! It's Zero, damn it! Time for a Dalton Escape~!"

"Wait!"

"Catch me, Major Zero's lil bro~!"

"GHRKXBTGJ!" He growled something undecipherable.

"Martin V 2009 – 08?"

"NO!"

"Beware! The Neko Virus 2009 is going to ravage this winter! _Revenge match_ which has been waiting 4 years!"

"Heck. Not the Neko Virus thing…! My run-of-the-mill Navi was infected by that back then…!"

"Run Milling Man!"

"Obihiro – kun: what's with this ruckus?" Meijin came in.

"The enemy, sir."

"Cloud Man AGAIN…! Aandou! Ya moron…! I told ya to upgrade the security but instead he tried to smuggle iced coffee into my desk to pull a prank on me~…!" Meijin growled out of exasperation.

"Mastering Glassy~!"

"WHAT?"

"Amas your disciple?"

"WHAT? HOW DARE YOU!"

"Meijin – san is a… hum… noble person!" Obihiro blushed as he complained.

"Oho. Then Bapgei will come show ya the fun part of the deal!"

"I'm skeptical." Meijin fumed.

"Why, sir?"

"Bapgei's that "Talon" figure I told you about yesterday… But I doubt him bothering you of all people… Twilight will surely want to continue the rivalry between him and Nelaus – kun so…"

"So Rivalry Managing Man will drop by with the 23:23 PM plane~!"

"From where?" Obihiro challenged.

"Where else~? From San Francisco~!"

"San Francisco…? What, you've got accomplices there?"

"Gate's vengeful ghost roams the city~…" He laughed.

"He means some Net Navi that Nelaus – kun deleted in a death match."

"Hmpf… Go try to scare your evil half-cousin." Obihiro improvised.

"How's this for fear? FEAR!"

"Nyah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Heck. "The Fear" from MGS3!"

"What?"

Indeed: the fellow appeared there and began to move in his erratic manner before aiming the crossbow at Obihiro: he ducked and the guy shot but it turned out to be a hologram: he laughed as he jumped towards the west wall and attached to it before taking out the tongue: Obihiro gulped and looked horrified while Meijin grumbled.

"FEAR!"

"Go hunt frogs!" Meijin grumbled.

"Maybe they have magicial abilities?" Cloud Man laughed.

"Auppp! Aup, aup! Appp!"

"Ugro~h! That warp-pit thing…! I'm being sucked in… Uwo~h!"

Rush apparently came into the system and used the "Rush Hole" to suck Cloud Man in and warp him out: he grinned and came out into the real world while rummaging Meijin's right lab-coat pocket and taking out a cookie with chocolate inside: he grinned and ran out while Meijin sighed and slapped his face.

"Now I know why Sendo put those into my pocket even though I'm not fond of them." He realized.

"At least we got rid of the guy."

"I'm off to updating security RIGHT NOW. You keep on analyzing the "Bestialize Element" and see if we could improve it by mixing it with the "Dimensional Element" the "DAs" use…"

"Roger, Meijin – san."

"_San wa iranai_…!"

Meiin got outta the room while Obihiro resumed working with the computer: Rush came back in and grinned as he showed Obihiro a picture of Satoshi (the _Pocket Monsters_ _anime_ main character) being chased by a horde of "Kentauros".

"I know… That episode… "The Legend of Miniryuu"… Satoshi gets into trouble in the Safari Zone and ends up catching a horde of "Kentauros" without really intending to…" He rolled his eyes.

"Auppp!"

"What next?"

He formed a holographic screen depicting Raoul wearing a weird blue suit which looked like something you'd bring to a party, an afro wig and star-shaped sunglasses.

"_Hey! You! Raoul The Lightning's come! Struggle!_" He announced while trying to make a "cool" pose.

"That Raoul – san has weird hobbies, yeah… So I got told…" Obihiro groaned.

"Raoul! Do something useful! Like tackling those creeps!" Thunder Man scolded.

"_Go! Masked Thunder_!" He lifted the PET into the air.

"Why do I feel some _déjà vu_?" Thunder Man groaned.

"_Masked Chip! Slot In!_"

"It's named "Fashion Chip"! Raoul!"

"_Let's go! And one! And none! And two! And woo! And three! And tree!_"

"What the heck is that about to begin with?"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Neophyte Sponsoring Man shows up from the bottom of thee heart." A voice rang out.

"Sha-dow-Man!" Miyabi grumbled.

"_Daishogun_! Let us plunder Narita!"

"Stop acting like this was the _sengoku_~! Go hunt for the Darkloids!"

"Delighted and non delighted."

"This guy…! Dr. Wily…!" Miyabi hissed.

"Earth, swallow me…" Obihiro dropped his head into the console out of exasperation and despair.

"Auppp!"

Rush ran out shutting the screen and giggling while he quickly rummaged into his lab-coat's left pocket and found the ear-plugs which he put in with a sigh before resuming his earlier work.

"Better… Now I can't hear the madness…!"

He resumed working as one worker walked past the room and they suddenly collided with something: they gasped and ran off so Obihiro looked there to see the PKMN "Bangiras" standing on the threshold and looking menacing: Rush's giggle rang out but he didn't hear it so he paid no heed and resumed working.

"Meijin! Rush brought a monster from the Jurassic Park films!" The worker yelled.

"Rush…! He's gotten into the troublemaker league too…!"

"Do something!"

"I'll call for Hikari – hakase… Sheesh."

_Will the madness ever end or it's gonna haunt me forever? Sheesh!_

13:13 PM (Japan Time)…

"… _Beat the beating BEAT!_"

"Count Elec…! Those rhymes are lame…!"

"Elec and his guitar… Dr. Wily – sama! Please tell me there's a way to beat Freeze Man!"

"Not again, Hinoken – sama…!"

"If you could find their actual core program and damage it… But they won't make it easy for you, Hinoken."

"Whatever! Fire Man's full power will MELT that POPSICLE jerk!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Trouble, trouble."

"Don't laugh at it, cha."

"Madness…! We need to defeat the madness…!"

"True, Maha Jarama – sama."

Count Elec played the guitar, Hinoken asked Wily for advice, Madoi finished setting the tables and Maha took care of cooking: the Navis were getting exasperated (save Colored Man) again.

"Yo. Super Savior – sama came with Petty Dave."

"Jeez."

Charles stepped in while joking but Davis (inside of the PET) didn't think it was funny: he sat in one stool.

"And next is Martian Martin with Landing Lander!" He announced as he signaled the door.

"That joke's running old already, Charles…!"

"Landing Lander… I don't find it funny anymore."

"Join the club."

"I get the irony. Sheesh."

"Heh, heh, heh…" Wily chuckled.

"Have you seen the troublemaker?" Miyabi questioned as he popped his head into the restaurant.

"Who, Needle Man?" Wily wondered.

"Of course not. Shadow Man."

"No. But I did see…"

"What?"

"Mr. Engun asking for reinforcements."

"How funny."

He came out immediately and Yuriko came in while looking slightly surprised: she'd obviously crossed paths with ill-humored Miyabi.

"What did you stir up this time around? Father?" She sighed.

"Nothing. Miyabi was looking for the troublemaker and I pulled an old-fashioned joke." He shrugged.

"Shah, shah, shah! If ya mean Shadow Man… I saw the guy doing something in the arena's seats: the spot where Rock Man tends to go to most of the time… Guess there's some prank." Needle Man reported.

"Plank and prank!" Nelaus joked as he came in with Aura.

"Sank and bank?" Aura improvised.

"Oh come on." Isaac sighed.

"Those rhymes sound silly." Felicia complained.

"Join the club." Madoi told them.

"We get the irony."

"By the way, where's Dr. Regal at?"

"Well. Contributing. Laser Man behaves as well. It's been one year since I unlocked his memories and that changed his behavior…"

"Luckily enough…!" Yuriko sighed.

"Discovering he's got Anderson who's almost like a son to him has also made him see he's got the responsibility to steer him in the right way."

"Anderson, the boss of "Rama"… AKA "Priest"…" Nelaus muttered.

"Yeah… And Annihilator Man… They did come rescue us the other day around…" Isaac added.

"But, really… It was amusing to see how Gate Man got a lesson taught by Destruction Man." Felicia giggled.

"Truly. It looked like some parody series filming, even."

"MASU~! Nelaus – kun! I NEED those "Bestialize" Chips!"

"They're – not – for – sale – Yamitarou! You – moron!"

Higure rushed in and pleaded to Nelaus: Number Man was totally annoyed and was scolding him.

"Like Number Man said… They're not for sale, Mr. Higure!"

"Maybe you'd like dummies instead?" Isaac suggested.

"Ah! Then I can exhibit them! Masu!"

"Huff. If that will make him give it up…" Number Man muttered.

"Pyururu? Number Man! Pyu! A customer left a note in the desk! Pyu!"

"Devil. Shuuko! You didn't see it?"

"Huh… No… I was brooming…"

"I'm going there to check it out. You come back, Yamitarou, or people will go to Max's Chips instead."

"E~H! DE MASU~! No, de masu! A shinning man here, Higure Yamitarou, won't let them do as they like! Masu~! I'll see to it! I'll bring out my cloak and Muramasa Blade~! Masu~!"

Higure ran off while both Nelaus and Aura sighed in defeat.

"Why do I know that the "customer" was Shadow Man and he's set up some joke or another?" Nelaus wondered.

"Because he's predictable?" Aura suggested.

"Totally."

"Huff!"

"Eh… Isaac?"

"Yeah, Number Man?"

"Do you know anyone named "Non Amor"? They left a note saying you knew the trick to beat the competency."

"… Ayanokouji. Only she would write something like that." He guessed.

"Tee, heh, heh! Surprise, surprise! I caught the lovey-lovey birds about to do something sneaky~!"

"WHAT?"

"Tee, heh, heh!"

Yaito suddenly came in and came up with a not-so-subtle joke which annoyed both Nelaus and Aura.

"Ayanokouji – san!" Aura protested.

"Miss Ayanokouji!" Nelaus grumbled.

"Our Operators…!" Isaac began.

"…have some dignity!" Felicia finished.

"Yaito – sama…!" Glyde was exasperated already.

"Now, Ayanokouji… You wouldn't be tagging with Shadow Man in the first place, right?" Charles questioned.

"Somehow, that wouldn't surprise me. I can totally picture it!" Martin fumed.

"Go back home: approve the Math test!" Davis insisted.

"Or else Trouble will descend."

Yaito's PET beeped and she gasped: she ran off and the sound of her limo starting up rang out along with its roar.

"I'm sure she lied to the maids and told them she was free to go but her dad found her out." Charles sighed.

"Hum. Spoiled children…" Wily muttered.

"Remember that joke she pulled on us by luring so many Navis to her tree-house? That was a sufficient sample of what she does when she gets inspired." Yuriko sighed.

"Shah, shah, shah! It turned out that Shadow Man did leave the note in Higureya… And the seat thing… Rock Man and Roll just went there and a spring with a banner saying "lovey-lovey duo about to do something skeay" popped out…" Needle Man reported.

"Those jokes are stupid… And they are an affront to peoples' prides as well…! That girl…! Now I wish Mariko had been stricter on her back in the elementary age!" Yuriko sighed in defeat.

"No use crying over spilled milk, Yuriko."

"I know, Father, but nevertheless…!"

"That is no good." Maha grimly muttered.

"Guess Elec didn't hear anything!" Hinoken looked towards the backstore.

"With that outdated guitar thing on…" Madoi shrugged.

"And his vanity…" Charles joked.

"Jeez." Martin, Lander and Davis complained.

"Well! Let's go on with the adventures! Analog & Cyber Snatchers!"

"Will ya quit using that motto?"

Nelaus, Isaac, Aura and Felicia rolled their eyes as well.

_Man. Will we really be able to remain sane amongst this madness…?_

13:53 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Boss?"

"Yeah, Omega?"

"I've got some news…"

"The ass-hole?"

"Not really."

"Ayanokouji?"

"Correct."

"Blood told me already. I suggested to Sakurai – san to warn her father: someone has to slam the brakes on that girl!"

"Totally agree with you… Her jokes are turning into affronts to peoples' dignity by now… And too sexist, also…"

"Huff. That little girl…!"

Omega came to report to Vadous and he sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah… Samus Aran's lil bro~! Your big sis is back for more next summer! I saw the E3 trailer for _Metroid: Other M_!" Sigma's voice chuckled.

"Jeez. Boss did admit my design was partly inspired by that of Samus Aran but leave me in peace already."

"Sigma…! I'm off to scolding the guy."

"Sure."

"…reckoning capability provided by the 3 Ancient Goddess of Nid, Hurne and Ronfa…" Dragon Hell's voice rang out from the grid.

"ANGER GOD!"

"Uwa~h!"

"Huff. Anyone bother to clear that one up?"

"I do, Boss. They were anagrams of Din, Nehru and Faron. The 3 Goddesses of the "Legend of Zelda" which created the world and the "Triforce"…" Blood Shadow explained.

"I smell Cloud Man's hands in that one!" He grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah… Nam Doulc?" Sigma made a stupid anagram on the spot, as usual.

"Sigma!"

"Yikes! Commander Omega…!" He gasped.

"Do something useful! NOW!"

"R-roger, sir!"

"Yay! Uncle Sigma runs like an athelete!" Trill giggled.

"Huh? What?"

"Move it!"

"R-roger!"

"Trill! Don't get in the way." Iris scolded.

"Huff."

"Boss? This is Lartes… It turns out that Shadow Man is inside of the system and has gotten into Michelangelo's Room…" Lartes reported over the console's radio.

"What in the… Shadow Man. The troublemarker, alright! Computer: find Shadow Man and keep tracing the guy! I don't want the guy to mess with MY pet!" He grumbled.

"Affirmative."

"Yo and behold! _Shinobi entrance_."

"You snuck along Sigma."

"Oho. The Detective smells me out?"

"Don't start comparing me to Bruce Wayne!"

"But you do look alike."

"I don't have a secret ID!"

"Maybe Mr. Smith does?"

"What Mr. Smith?"

"The one in your closet."

"What are you hinting at?" He grumbled.

"Maybe Miss Heiress influenced me."

"I knew it, by damnation!"

"And by Damn Nation." He made up a silly pun.

"Nya~rth!" He growled.

"So you've got a Nyarth in your team, eh? Can it say "got a bad feelin'…" before blasting off?" Shadow Man chuckled.

"Don't mix the _Pocket Monsters_ anime next!"

"Too bad, Mr. Admiral."

"O-ME-GA! Show that guy the way out! Blood! You too!"

"Delighted."

"Roger, Boss."

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's play some tag."

"Oh heck."

"See you _samurai_ in Hell's Gate." He chuckled.

"That means he's going for the core." Omega fumed.

"Or it could be a decoy."

"Go to the core. I'll go to the room."

"Roger, sir!"

"Go already!"

"May I contribute, Reclaimers?" A familiar voice asked.

"Huh? Spark. He's outside the firewall… Maybe Anderson let him loose for a while and he wanted to peek… Fine. He might help us detect that slippery mouse. Come in!" Vadous muttered as he brought up imagery of the Cyber World.

"Ah! Fantastic. Excellent technology to study and catalog!"

"There's an intruder roaming around the Cyber World, Spark. If you could show them the way out… Then I'll reward you with access to our technology databanks…" Vadous set bait.

"Oh! Delighted. Come, Sentinels. I can detect a signature which has split into 6 and is located in 6 different spots."

"I knew it. He's using "Kage Bunshin" to taunt us." Omega fumed.

"The troublemaker…!"

"Sentinels! Go in groups of 2 and memorize the way out!"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… So the flying proxies are going to show me the way out, light-bulb?"

"Vexation! Vexation! Vexation!" He got annoyed.

"Vexation Sphere of Thousand Knowledges is annoyed?"

"Indigation! Indignation! Indignation!"

"Miyabi! When we get the guy out retrieve them and LOCK them there in the PET for a while! They deserve it!" Vadous contacted him.

"Huff. My pleasure." He grumbled.

"By the way: a certain duo may be missing things?"

"Ijuuin and Laika already told me: you stole Blues' helmet "fin" and Search Man's helmet visor and mike." Miyabi fumed.

"By all the… This is getting maddening! SPARK!"

"Leave it up to me, Reclaimers! I shall return this affront!"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Hell's Gate is about to be opened: and even that Xon' Edos guy must be about to cower in fear… He'll beg for Colonel to come to his rescue, even… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!"

"TGKGHGKDGBT!" Vadous howled something undecipherable.

"Werewolf-tongue, I take it, Mr. Wayne?"

"I AIN'T A BRUCE WAYNE WANNABE~!"

"The Sentinels report that the signatures in points 3-9, 2-5, 1-2, D-6 and 2-7 are fakes and that the real one is in point 0-0-0."

"I knew it. The CCTV camera looking straight from the front at the mass of the fusion reactor…! Lock all exits there and converge there! Check your shadows to make sure they don't hide in them! Move it! Spark! Give them a taste of Sentinel lasers!"

"Delighted, Reclaimer!"

"Omega, Blood! Just paralyze the guy and then we'll send them to Miyabi's PET along with some programs to keep them paralyzed: it'd seem we'll have to reuse last summer's punishment on Sigma to keep them in line and tell them there's a limit to things."

"Of course!" Omega fumed.

"That guy…!"

"Blame Mr. King." Shadow Man chuckled.

"Who, Wily? Wily just rebuilt you like that! And now you're cornered like a mouse: go, you lot!" Vadous grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Come. And leave. And stay! Shadow Man's "din-din-din spell" is on the works!"

"Enough chit-chat! Let's go!"

16:27 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff. Yaito – chan… She really overdid it, eh, Saito – niisan?"

"Sure, Netto – kun…"

"Huff. What a scene she ended up causing."

"I know, Tooru – kun… What do you think, Arushi – kun?"

"Ayanokouji – san's WAY TOO spoiled."

"We've know that for years, man."

"Chu! For once ya say something logical, niichan."

"It's some miracle that we haven't gone mad yet."

The 3-A students had gathered in the Akihara Town playground and were discussing the day's happenings.

"Yo. Sorry to butt in."

"VP – sama needed some rice cookies."

"Jeez."

"Heh, heh, heh."

Laika and Enzan joined them and Laika continued with the running gag of pulling a joke on Enzan which he didn't find funny: Netto chuckled at it but Saito rolled his eyes.

"Mugro~h… That's some mess!" Balrog muttered.

"More like chaos!" Roll sighed.

"Trouble, desu…"

"Guts, guts… Trouble, de guts…"

"A lot of trouble." Blues grumbled.

"Too much, even." Search Man fumed.

"What is the trouble about?"

"Huh? Xon' Edos…"

"Indeed."

"Well. I'm not sure if you'd understand it… One companion of us began to set up some phrases with a double meaning… But that double meaning wasn't something to be made fun of so… You could say that she was actually making an affront to our prides."

"Ah. If it is an affront to one's pride then I can understand that." He calmly admitted.

"A tech Reclaimer!"

"Huh? Do excuse me?"

"Oh. That's Guilty Spark 343… Taken from a game… He behaves like he was in the "setting"… In short: he's been in charge of a gigantic ring-shaped weapon for 100,000 years and now he's eager to find out new tech and such out there…" Netto explained.

"Ah. I do see."

"Maybe if you let him analyze your spaceship sytems he'd start to compare them to those of his creators… Don't expect a deep level of detail, though." Saito suggested next.

"That is fine."

"Oh! Excellent, excellent!"

"Hi there. Your goods." Omega showed up on Netto's PET next to communicate with Blues and Search Man.

"It took some effort?" Blues guessed.

"Yeah. The guy had actually brought Mewtwo and Deoxys along so we had to beat those before we could paralyze them and get them out." He summed up with a sigh.

"That guy…! I knew it: they weren't trustable!"

"Now, now. Let's not start in-fighting."

"I know, but… Huff!"

"I detect some stress in the air?" Spark asked.

"Stress alright. And exasperation." Omega sighed.

"I'm back… I crossed paths with Colonel who'd done a sweep of the Reverse Cyber World near the Akihara Hospital, where that bridge is located at… He found nothing save for a statue of Ra's al Ghul." Sigma reported.

"Maybe the jerk left it behind." Omega shrugged it off.

"I'm back, too. I've confirmed that the hacker band is totally dismantled and no – one seems to want to take profit of Ming's etup. They seem to want to be walk with lead feet." Blood Shadow came in too.

"Fine. At least we needn't worry on that front."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! The Ming Dynasty Jar is outta the equation but it'll be troublesome if ya forget us!" Cloud Man laughed from a nearby speaker.

"Not like we intended to. Bullly Cloud."

"Bully Cloud? The great me?" He growled.

"Beware of your own pity."

"My own pity?" He grumbled next.

"Or something along those lines." Omega drily taunted next.

"Grrr… I'll bring Tartatus and his Gravity Hammer to squish ya in one blow: just that you know it! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"The final boss from _Halo 2_, huh? I don't care. My "zan-datsu" will make pieces outta the guy's Gravity Hammer. I'll then use a Plasma Sword and cut the guy into pieces. Courtesy of the Arbiter."

"Hmpf! I'm off through the Off Door provided by Vincent "Red"!"

"Who's that?" Eboshi asked.

"Huff. Long story short… A Mexican. He used some trick to sneak into the CIA, became a disguise expert and then got sacked. He did one or two jobs but nowadays he drinks a lot and comes up with randomness which can drive one mad." Saito summed up in a few lines.

"Really…?"

"Really. I got a random mail and the mottoes inside were maddening to begin with… What does "saints&hands" mean, anyway?" Arushi admitted with obvious defeatism.

"I remember that Mike, one of the radar controllers, played that on the day I did my first "CF" test…" Nelaus came in along with Aura.

"I guess it drove everyone mad." Aura guessed.

"Of course. Mike was an odd fellow. But since they only had him and Bill to check on the radar… He seemed to have decided to get annoyed with Mr. Platinum whenever he showed up."

"Yeah. Deadly Pandora had that weird habit. And it'd seem Mike told Bill he was uglier so he had to go report to Mr. Opoulos… But in the end Mike had to go in person…" Isaac sighed.

"Really…" Aura looked amused.

"By the way, Enzan – kun… Any luck?" Meiru teased.

"… No." He drily replied while looking like he wanted to avoid the topic altogether.

"Maybe Agent Camel is checking to make sure there's no tale?" Laika whispered to him with some amusement.

"Jeez."

"Do we always need to go through this?" Blues sighed.

"I'm afraid so." Search Man sighed as well.

"Oho. I see, I see." Meiru giggled.

"What do you "see"?" Roll questioned.

"A choco-banana crepe."

"Not again…!" Netto groaned.

"What you did on the day of Burner Man's "rare metal" robbery was pretty selfish, you know, Meiru – chan?" Saito sighed.

"Oh well. The past is the past."

"And the future is full of possibilities! We're gonna tackle the 4th grade and overcome all obstacles!" Nelaus rallied.

"That's the spirit, man! Dekao – sama won't lose to the exams!"

"Chu! Then study more and less Net Battling! Chu!"

"Uwah! Spare me, Chisao~!"

"Nope, chu. I gotta be strict on niichan! Chu!"

"Well then. Do come with me… Monitor." Xon' Edos invited.

"Delighted! Stay healthy, Tech Reclaimers!"

"Tech Reclaimers… I still find it funny." Eboshi giggled.

"Twilight? Meh! The guy can't do much more than what he's done now: next time he won't have it so easy to run." Omega animated.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah… I'll pound and pod his hide~!"

"Oh come on. Sigma. That rhyme is stupid." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Mugro~h! Let them come! I'll burn 'em 'till only ashes are left!"

"Yessir! That's the spirit, my pal!" Arushi looked cocky.

"OK, Nelaus – kun! You need to eat some salads to lose those kilos!"

"Please…" Nelaus laughed at the joke.

"Let's say it! Akihara Town: rushing into the future~!"

The group laughed in a cherry manner at their newly improved motto…

**THE END**


End file.
